Before he joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Heimdall, before chasing Mowgli in The Jungle Book, before his Emmy nomination for Luther, Idris Elba was “Pizza Delivery Man.”
Remember a ‘90s show called Space Precinct about an NYPD officer relocated to police a planet in space? Elba appeared briefly as a delivery guy for his second credited on-screen role — and the show didn’t even use his own voice.
The world has since forgotten about Space Precinct, but not Elba.
From an obscure sci-fi property to one of the biggest franchises of the genre, the Golden Globe winner will next be seen in Star Trek Beyond playing the villain Krall, who has a personal vendetta against the Federation.
We caught up with the actor to talk about geeking out with director Justin Lin over Krall, his next exciting role as Stephen King’s the Gunslinger (aka Roland Deschain) in the film adaptation of The Dark Tower, and that early role that started it all.
Fandango: Justin Lin said that one of your first conversations over the phone for this role lasted an hour discussing Krall’s details, like the physicality of this character and the very specific way he talks, too.
Idris Elba: Yeah. I think Justin and I really did have to understand — before I took the job, I wanted to really understand what his take on this journey was. It’s a complex story, and with anything that is complex you have to spend time to break it down, break down the components of it and try and put it back together so that it makes sense.
And it’s actually one of the best parts of acting is when you start to break down a character, ask questions. It’s a bit like therapy because you really are talking about stuff that, in this case, Krall, the enemy, is thinking about.
So, that was a great part of it. Justin’s a very smart director — genius, actually — and he really helped me find my feet with that character.
Fandango: How did you two specifically come up with the way he moves and the way he talks? What was that influence?
Elba: Obviously, no spoilers, but this character has some DNA shifting and there’s all sorts of understanding of how that happens. What would happen physically? How do we represent that? His voice, you know, he speaks English. “Whoa. How do you, ah, speak English?” And we wanted to figure out how the sound of his voice might be having not spoken English for a long time. So, it was quite very specific, geeky conversations about, I guess, DNA manipulation, mutation and things like that.
Fandango: Speaking of spoilers, Paramount just released a 30-second TV spot that didn’t reveal the character’s true identity but it showed him in human form. And in this whole era of spoiler culture and all these discussions, do you think, specifically with this film, revealing that took anything away from the character?
Elba: I have to say, if I’m really honest, I don’t think that’s a smart idea. The whole premise of Krall is that you don’t know where he’s come from, who he is. Why put it in a 30-second trailer? I’m sure though, you know, understanding I’m not the producers, so perhaps they have a different understanding of what the audience wants to see in these trailers. But, for me, it definitely took a little bit of a rug, took the cape off my back a little bit. And I was like, “Eh, okay.”
Fandango: Going back to your earlier roles we came across this juicy gem called Space Precinct. Do you remember filming that role?
Elba: [Laughs] I do, yes.
Fandango: You started in this obscure sci-fi show that went off the air and now you’re in a major franchise film in the genre. So, looking back, what is that feeling like?
Elba: Oh, it’s great. It’s a great journey. I remember that. We shot that in Pinewood Studios. It was one of my first early jobs. It was before the days of green screen, but more when they did sort of the — I don’t know what they did before green screen. Blue screen, perhaps? I’m not sure. But you could still see when it was a bit joined, and my character rode in on a bike or whatever.
I was really honored to be a part of that. Gerry Anderson [creator of Thunderbirds] was doing this new show, and I had a very small part in it. The problem is that they dubbed my voice. That is not my voice.
Fandango: Why did they do that? Do you know?
Elba: I suppose my accent wasn’t very good?
Fandango: You’re currently in production on The Dark Tower, and EW released that big issue with the first details. Can you describe your personal take on it and if there was anything specific you wanted to bring to this character.
Elba: Well, I mean, I haven’t been one that was a particular fan of the books and really understood or knew much about the franchise. I came in sort of blind, which gave me the opportunity to really sort of create Roland for me.
Of course, the real die-hard fans are gonna be like, “Wait, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What gives you the right to create our guy into a real character and you haven’t even read the books?” I understand that, but as an actor, which is what I’m doing, I’m here to interpret the words, the script, which I didn’t write. Someone very knowledgeable, in fact the director, knows this character inside and out.
So, to be honest with you, I approached it from that perspective. I did not go in and go, “I’m gonna sort of really give the fanboys something to think about.” I thought, No, I’m gonna give them an interpretation of the character. I think that’s what I’ve done.
Star Trek Beyond hits theaters on July 22.
