In case you didn’t know, Idris Elba is also a director these days.
After 24 years as an actor, the Brit stepped behind the camera this year to helm his directorial debut, Yardie.
“I’ve had a long, active career as an actor, very blessed by that,” Idris told Sky News. “I’ve seen a lot of great directors work — I’ve had the privilege of working with Ridley Scott, Guillermo Del Toro, and I’ve always said ‘I want to do that one day,’ I really have, and I’ve always thought I want to jump in to the seat when I feel really ready for it.”
It would appear that time is now.
The film, based on a book of the same name, tells the story of a young Jamaican man, played by Sense8 actor Aml Ameen, who has never truly recovered from the childhood murder of his elder brother.
“In this film, I had probably four or five actors who had never done a feature film before, or even acted before,” says Idris.
The Luther actor has received a new perspective on filmmaking as a result of the project, saying: “Directors have to understand how much a shot’s going to cost, because if you want something really spectacular that’s great, but it’s going to cost you x amount of time to shoot it, x amount of money to shoot that, and I had no idea of that before.”
So can we expect more films directed by the 45-year-old?
“I love acting, but at some point when I can’t get out of bed to run around, directing will be a place that I die,” he says.
Before that happens, Idris has a modern retelling of The Hunchback of Notre Dame in the works.
