Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Idris Elba (March 2023)

Episode Date: September 3, 2023

Lately, when you hear the name Idris Elba, it often comes in the context of speculation about whether he'll be the next James Bond. The actor says it's not happening, and at the moment he's busy playing John Luther, a British crime-solving hero with a slightly harder edge than Bond's. The 50-year-old Elba worked as a young man at the same Ford manufacturing plant where his father worked before moving to America to chase an acting dream that now has far exceeded anything he ever imagined. In this week's Sunday Sitdown, Willie and Idris got together in New York. (Original broadcast date March 12, 2023.) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. Excited to bring you my conversation this week with the great Idris Elba. Man, has he been in some good movies and his latest is no exception. If you watch the series Luther, the BBC series that ran for five seasons where he plays a tough cop, a detective in London, you are going to love this movie. That was a very popular series in the UK. made the jump over to the United States. And now the movie Luther, the Fallen Sun,

a full-length Netflix film with that same character. I didn't realize before I started looking into his background and studying him a little bit, how connected Idris is to New York City, which is why we did the interview in a special bar called the King Cole Bar in Midtown Manhattan. It's a place that resembles, let's just say, one of the scenes in the movie.

And we sat in there and it's this historic old bar from 1932 in New York City where they like to say they invented the Bloody Mary. I don't know if that's true, but let's go with it. People like Dolly and John Lennon and Joe DiMaggio and all these icons from different universes who moved in and out of New York would sit and gather and huddle and talk. So we felt like it was a cool space for a cool guy. But he came here from London where he grew up. His father worked in a Ford Motor plant. He, after high school, worked in the same motor plant, did Idris, and then decided he was going to be an actor. Took the bold step at 19 years old of moving to New York City, and you'll hear about a decade of struggle living out of a van when he read the script for the wire, the obviously iconic HBO series that started just about 20 years ago, a little more, that changed his life and the trajectory of his career.

A lot to talk about with Idris, a fascinating life story. an amazing varied career, landing him now in this great big movie version on Netflix of Luther. So sit back, relax, and enjoy my conversation with Idris Elba right now on the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Thanks for doing this, Idris. Good to see you. Good to see you, too, man. Nice to be here. Welcome back to New York.

I know this is a special place for you. Yeah. And we're in kind of a bar that I thought maybe Luther would hang out in. I like the ambience. You know? It's very cool. So what's the history here? Is it?

It's been here like a hundred years. Some of the most famous New Yorkers, artists, writers, kind of would hang out and huddle in the corner, just like you and I are doing. Having deep conversations about the important matters of the day. Scraping the barrel with me,

but, you know, I'll take it. We'll bring down the average together. Congratulations on the movie. I was just telling you, I watched it last night, and it's still with me. I think I'll have a knot in my stomach from watching it.

People know your character. They love the character from the series. Tell me about it. about the decision to turn it into a movie. Why was that a good leap for you? I guess, you know, the show always had a sort of filmic sensibility to it. This is the style of it, just the sort of, you know, pacing and tone of it felt a little bit more like a movie than your average TV show.

And that was from the onset. And, you know, that became a sort of fabric. And so, as, you know, in success from season one to season two, and we had this a little bit of an unorthodox sort of timing and episode, you know, sort of distribution of it. So sometimes it'd be six episodes and then Neil would just do four and then we'll wait for two years and then Neil would do one. I mean, it was really sort of, um, so that became sort of, I guess a blueprint for like, what if we did this on a larger scale, like a movie, like really had that muscularity, that scale

to it. Let's take Luther outside of what we call Lutherland, which is. at UK, London, and put him into another environment and make it bigger. And, you know, I think it was definitely like a big ambition for us, but I always felt

I would make it. So Luther, for fans of the series, will look familiar. He is Luther, except at the beginning of the movie anyway, and you can give away as much as you want to not want to give away, we find him in a different circumstance than we've seen him before. Well, look, you know, I mean,

if anyone hasn't seen Luther, what you're going to see is a detective that's in jail. And for those who know Luther, you know, at the end of season five, no spoilers, but at the end of season five, he goes to jail. And that's where we pick up the story. The film is definitely sort of really soaked and characterizing all the Luther traits. You know what I mean? It's got the coat.

It's got the vibe, but it's just bigger. And, you know, I guess one of the challenges for us is really to figure out. how to, you know, keep the day one fans happy of all the sort of Lutherisms and then introduce that to a new audience and make the film stand alone. And that was a challenge. And, you know, Neil, Neil Cross, the writer, he did a great job of doing that. I think what's cool about it is you do not have to have watched all those previous seasons of Luther to dive right into this movie and understand what's going on, that you may now want to go back and watch Luther because you like the movie so much.

You've also assembled an amazing cast, some new players along with you. We were just talking about Cynthia Revo. Amazing. Amazing. And Andy Circus, who he's going to haunt my dreams for weeks to come. He is kind of creepy in it. Once you saw that group of great actors coming together, it had to thrill you even more. Yeah.

I mean, it was, you know, we always have had great actors play roles that are just like relatable creeps, you know? It's a great term. He's a relatable creep But Andy took it I guess to another level I mean obviously he's a great Well renowned Well respected character actor

And this character Is quite relatable right Kind of like yeah it could be anyone But then he takes that sort of You know like dark side to another level And then Cynthia as course You know I was really excited to work of Cynthia She's a bit of a polymath

You know like me And she does music She writes books and such And so You know This is a different role for her You know She's a tiny powerhouse

And you know This character that she plays Is essentially DCI Luther's replacement Once he's gone to jail And so you know It was just a really great energy Jamie Payne our director

You know Hats off to him For just sort of helping me Slot the right players In the right places in the film It looks like a lot of fun as a viewer to play this character. No. No?

Just brutal? Because you're getting beat up so much? Getting up at 4 a.m. in the rain, cold. And, you know, I'm just like, can we do a Luther where he's in Hawaii? And there's like, you know, maybe it's a tropical storm, so there is some rain, but not so cold. I smell a sequel. A hundred percent. Hawaii?

Yeah. Luther in Hawaii. maker. No, but I mean, I say it isn't fun. I've played him for 10 years and it's one of my sort of dearest characters, if you like. And what do you think it is that is so appealed to audiences

first with the series and now they certainly well with the movie? What is it about this guy that people like to watch? I think, you know, first of all, people love detectives, right? There's something about the guy that comes in and says, hmm, I wonder how they did this, right? That's a good genre, well played.

I think at the time when, we're talking about 2010, when I got this opportunity to play a detective, mind you, you know, the most iconic role that I played prior to that was Stringer Bell, right? So for me, playing a detective on the other side of the fence, you know, stringer on as a drug dealer and Detective Luther, for me, that was like, yeah, I get to reinvent something and myself, actually. and there's something about Luther being this forthright character that will stop at nothing. You know, he doesn't mind being cancelled.

He doesn't mind, you know, sort of offending a few people or breaking a few hands or toes to get where he needs to go. And that was quite, you know, for BBC at the time, that was like, well, a bit racy. He's not safe. Luther's not safe. the first episode of the first season, you know, he lets his perpetrator die. He lets them die while looking at their eyes. And you're like, is this the detective or is this like the bad guy?

And so I think for me as an actor, that was a sort of a gift of a part because it's such a spectrum. On one side, he has this sort of really tough exterior and on the other side of him. He has like a very sensitive, damaged sort of personality that lives underneath him. And that as an actor, that's a great spectrum. to play across, you know?

I was interested to see you say in a couple of other interviews that no reflection on your future plans, but the template is sort of the James Bond character, which is we want to have this kind of character, but certainly he has a harder edge than James Bond. So what do you mean when you say that? I mean, I really, I don't want to compare John Luther to James Bond, but in the, you know, in the whirlwind of conversations around me playing James Bond, I've always said, look, you know, until we see John Luther in a movie because I feel like the real estate is the same in a sense that James Bonn is this sort of, you know, very charismatic character in these really unusual situations. And some of them are relatable, but most of them are not. John Luther is an ordinary detective with sort of extraordinary circumstances, but very relatable. You know, we're not talking about end of the world crime. We're talking about, end of the world crime.

We're talking about guys that have real bad sort of ethics, you know what I mean? And he can't stand that. But what the film has now given us is taking this central character, Luther, and putting him in these landscapes, in these scenarios, that could be as epic as the ones that James Bond sort of covers. You know what I mean? And I hope people kind of go, wow, James versus John. You know what I mean?

Like, I really hope that. Don't think I didn't notice. There's a moment at a bar. You're sitting there almost like you are right here. You talked to the bartender. I guess I won't give it away. Was that an intentional reference for Abtabond? I didn't write that.

I didn't write that. I remember seeing that in the script and was like, oh, we sure, bro. I mean, this is like right on the nose. And Neil was like, yeah, let's do it. So, you know, a little bit of fun. Was that a nod? to the outside calls for you to play James Mond.

Not purposely, but, you know, I think those who know, no, no. It's a great moment. So now you've certainly raised the question then with the Bond comparison, the franchise anyway, of sequels. It feels to me, having just watched the movie, like there's more to come. Yeah. Fair to say, or at least that's the way you'd like it to go? I think it's fair to say that.

Yeah, I think that the ending, again, really sort of opens that door for whether of the possibilities. Where does John go next? And I think it's quite on purpose. I think we all, you know, have a sort of wish to take a few chapters and see this landscape grow and grow. I do. I mean, I feel like there's so much we can offer. Because Luther land is really wherever Luther goes. So if we saw Luther in Columbia and it had that same. sort of Luther aesthetic and it's dark, you know, I think that would still be as engaging as seeing him in sort of London as we know it. Well, I hope so.

I hope so. It's so much fun. I suspect that would be another chapter in this story. We were just talking before we started. I didn't fully appreciate how deep your New York City roots are, as we said in this bar in New York. You grew up in London, of course, child of immigrants in the UK. So before you got to New York, how and when was the seed to become an actor planted?

How did you get to that place from a place that was so far from Hollywood or show business? Well, I mean, you know, I knew in high school, secondary school for me, that I wanted to be an actor. I knew that at the age of 16, that this was sort of my career part. I just didn't know how to get there. And as soon as I left school, I sort of, you know, got into college. And I sort of did a performing arts course, which sort of covered all the bases. But it was right there when I sort of got introduced to method acting and Robert De Niro, especially Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando. Lee Strasberg was a sort of technique.

And it was very, you know, sort of attached to New York. And that was the beginning. That was like, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, okay. These type of actors come from this particular type of training method. that's in New York City so I just became fixed stated by the time I was so that was 16

by the time I was 19 after two years college you know I worked with my dad my dad worked at Ford's Motor Company I worked with him for a little bit and then I saved enough money and I was like I'm going to New York and I was going

all my friends were like you're going where what New York what's in New York? Who do you know? I was like my career's in New York I want to go to New York it's like you don't even acting

you don't even an actor yet you want to go to New York good luck And, yeah, 19, you know, saved up a ticket, came to New York, landed at JFK, I think, moved into a YMCA for like, I don't know, three or four weeks. I was just milling around Union Square, just like, wow, because Lee Strasbourg was around that area at the time. And I loved it.

That was the beginning of my love affair. What did your parents think about this leap at 19 years old? You know, my dad was pretty impressed that I, you know, sort of mustered up the money and the coverage and the plan to go to New York. My mom was mortified. She had all these misconceptions of what New York was. You're going to get killed. You're going to get murdered. There's lots of gangs.

But it didn't, you know, I think later on, it's sort of very proud of me coming to New York because it was a big, bold move, you know what I mean? For a little East London guy. This is before, you know, there's been a. an exodus of sort of actors coming to the UK, from the UK to the US. I kind of feel like I was one of the first, you know what I mean? Pioneer, yeah. And it's not like you had a gig book, you just kind of blindly popped across the Atlantic to come here.

And it wasn't easy for many, many years, finding jobs, you were DJing and bouncing and paying your rent and doing all the things you had to do to survive. So what were those early years in America like for a young struggling actor? I mean, you know, after my first trip, I came to New York for about three or four years. I didn't really know how I was actually going to get a job here or get the visa to come here. And eventually I got a window. I booked a pilot.

I got my 01 visa and I was here. So that was sort of the 96, 97. I mean, you know, at that junction, I had been working in the UK. I saved up a little bit of money. And I was like, I'm going to New York to do it. Got the 01. And, you know, I think I'd saved up. up somewhere like 36,000 pounds and used it all of in six months. And I was broke. And I was

not booking jobs. Casting directors were interested, but not really. You know what I mean? Like, don't come to a place where they already have hamburgers. You have to come with something different. So there's really good actors here. But I just came with this dream and then I was really, I'm a tenacious guy, you know, I stick at it. And so I wouldn't say the third, three years we're sort of auditioning for things getting this close not getting it as you as you know i was sort of trying to make make ends meet as many ways as i could fell in love of new york moved out of new york moved into jersey city and i mean i'm not going to lie it was tough it wasn't easy um it was a great time you know new york city uh just one of the most cultured places in

the world. Definitely pre-9-11 it was, you know, it was just one of these places you could walk into a bar and meet someone interested and then, you know, spark a friendship. So it wasn't like all doom and gloom, but as far as my career was concerned, it wasn't moving. Hey, guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Idris Elba right after the break. Welcome back now more of my conversation with Idris Elba. So we were just talking about whether you had any doubts. Maybe it was time to go back home. Definitely.

I mean, you know, it was, it's not cheap to live in this part of the world, you know, if you're not really earning a wage. And I had doubts. Thankfully, you know, I had an agent in London who is still my agent to this day. And every now and again, he'd be like, hey, do you want to book a job in London and come make some money? And I'd be like, great, yeah. I'd come home, book a small TV gig or whatever, make enough money to tide me over. And then I remember, I think one of the first jobs I booked here was law and order.

Played a small role in law and order. So many people start that way, right? I made it. I made it. Yeah. And then I got a play, an off-Broadway play, Troilness and Cressida. And, you know, these things just kept me going, like, the dream's right there. And I was auditioning for really great films, you know.

I auditioned for brown sugar. I auditioned for, I used to go up against Omar Epps quite a bit. Oh, Mark Epps? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I guess he and I sort of had a similar profile and would end up in the same thing, but it obviously way more famous than me and got it.

And so is it true that when the script for the wire came your way, you were in the Astrovan? Is there the truth to that? Yeah. We were spending a few nights in the van. Yeah. Yeah, it was a very tough time. I was, you know,

I was married at the time, and my wife and I were going for a very bad time. You know, she was pregnant. It was just a rough time. I could barely scrape enough money for, you know, unborn child. And so I had to move out of the apartment we had, and I had this van.

I lived in the van for a little bit. And, you know, know, you know, at the time I was sort of like, look, I just have to do what I have to do. You know, I DJ finished my set, couldn't really go home. So I'd just stay in a van, park it up and just stay there. And that was for like, you know, maybe two months maybe. But at the time, I was auditioning during the day. And, you know, my daughter was due to be born sort of like early January.

We're talking about November now, and this script comes in. It's like, you know, this is a pilot. You know, again, I was seeing really good casting directors by this junction, okay? This pilot's come in. It's called The Wire going to see the guys, but do yourself a favor. Don't speak in your own accent, you know, just keep it American. And I did. And I've told this story, you know, many times.

But that was like, I have to get this role. If I don't get this role My daughter's gonna be born I'm broke like what am I gonna do? I have to take you know Take it back to London Figure something out You know what I mean?

Like that was it Um So amazing how it works You know I stuck at that I stuck at this audition And I kept getting callbacks Get getting callbacks I'm like whoa this is

Could this be? Could this be me? And I was so used to getting that close And not getting it And I thought that maybe this was the one that I'd get and quite frankly it was

the moment that my daughter was born I literally got the phone call that hey you know we want to offer you the role the same day yeah exactly the same day not if you believe in fate but there was something going on that day

I mean of course I do it's incredible it's incredible it was a really special time changed my life changed my daughter's life you know what did that mean to you professionally

then when that show became such an iconic series and such a success and everyone knew your name and your face and you weren't this close anymore you were there what did that mean as you went forward in your career you know it just restored my faith man like that's bottom line you know what i mean it's really easy to sort of sort of have no faith but when when stuff's really tough and you're just you know should i give up or shouldn't i don't give up as bleak as it's my and honestly that story you couldn't more bleak than that. You know what I mean? Like, I have a child coming. I'm broke. I'm living in America in New York City. And then, you know, there it came. So it meant a lot to me. It was a life

changer. It changed my life financially, obviously, but it really did cataport my career into essentially, you know, what I'm still dining off that, that life-changing moment. The crazy thing is in the grand scheme of things. It wasn't that long ago that you were broke and not sure if you're going to be able to support your family and all those things and look at you now. 21 years ago. Yeah. Well, I guess I'm getting older. That doesn't seem that long ago to me.

I know. Someone told me like, the wise like 20-some of years old. I'm like, wait, what? How did that happen? I know, that's wild. Yeah, but I remember, especially when I come back to New York, we're going back to, you know, being in New York, I come back. I spend a lot of times on a daydreaming on these streets, you know what I mean?

A lot, you know, when I was doing doorwork for Carolines. I lived in Jersey City, so I take the path terrain up to 34th Street, jump out at 34th Street, because it was cheaper, and just walk. Walk up to Caroline's Comedy Club. And that walk was always like meditation for me. Walk to Times Square, looking up at all the movie posters and being like, one day. And you know what I mean? That's why when I come back to New York, it's so much memories. Good memories, but just memories.

It gives you a chance to pinch yourself a little, too, right? It used to be walking these streets, not knowing where this was headed. 100%. Keep it keeps me grounded. Stick around for more of my conversation with Idris Elba right after a quick break. Welcome back now to the rest of my conversation with Idris Elba. And the cool thing is from there, the variety of projects. You know, from whether you're talking about the office or Mandela and Luther, of course,

and all these amazing series and going into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. and getting all these opportunities. Talk about night and day where you couldn't find a job. And now all of a sudden it's like, we want you to be in all these Marvel movies. It's got to be sort of a head trip to say I can sort of have my choice now

of things that I want to do. Definitely, yeah. I still, you know, someone asks for the other day, like, do you still audition? I was like, no. Like, was it like an arrogant moment? I was just like, no, I don't audition.

ever, you know. It's a very, very different scenario now. Sometimes you get a phone call from a director that you admired, and they're like, hey, do you want to have a conversation? What do you want to make? What do I want to make? Okay. Have you ever had a chance to tell De Niro how he inspired you?

You know what? No. Oh, we've got to make that happen. I know. I mean, I've said it in so many interviews, and I was like, well, I'm going to meet De Niro. And I said, like, dude, you actually inspired me. You know, he had an office down in Tribeca.

Tribeca. Yeah. I literally fanboid out one day and just went to his office. And I think he, I had read in the stage that he was, the stage newspaper. That he was holding auditions for a Bronx tale. Is it a Bronx tale? Yeah. It was his film.

He was direct to him. Yeah. I was like, I got to be in this, you know what I mean? I'm going to find a way to be in it. And sort of did a little research and found out that maybe he was holding auditions at his office. Well, what I didn't know is that he was, but they'd already done the auditions. So I show up and I said, oh, I've got an audition at the front desk and they're like, where? And I'm saying, you know, Mr. De Niro's thing.

So I guess I was just late or whatever, like the auditions had passed. So the front desk didn't seem weirded by it. It was like, okay, go up to the eighth floor. I get to the eighth floor. And the reception is, hi, how can I up here? I said, oh, I'm here for a Bronxdale audition. And she was like, huh. Okay.

Okay. She caused this one out. Yeah, he's, oh, okay. No problem. He goes, yeah, go up to the next floor. So now I know I'm blagged. this, right? I'm like, wow, I'm going up to the next floor. This must be

where Bob De Niro is get up, she has a like a key goes up to this next floor and this woman comes out. She's like, hi, who are you? I said, oh, my name's Idris. Here's my resume. She's like, how did you get in this building? I said,

I'm auditioning for a Bronx tell. She's like, honey, we already did the auditions. I'm just curious to know how you got in here. I was like, oh, well, I just did some research and I hustled it. She was like, wow, you got some nuts on you, boy. I tell you, I have to.

Okay, I'll take your resume, but we don't have any more auditions. Wow. True story. Wow. And I was like, okay. It would be fun if we went down there right now and did that again. I'm here to see Bob. That's amazing.

I've got to ask you because we talked about it before I let you go about your DJing career, because it's not like you've been doing this for a long time. It's not like a famous actor vanity thing that you just discovered. You've been doing this for a long time. You've playing Coachella again this year. You've played Royal Weddings. What does that give to you? What does that do for you as an artist that maybe acting can't even do?

I mean, it's a performance art. DJing is a performance art. You stand in front of an audience and you perform and they react. You get their emotion. You get that. you know, celebratory feeling. I've always DJed since I was probably 10, 12. I started DJ and it's sort of semi-professional with my uncle.

So for me now, it's just a ground zero for me. You know what I mean? It's like it keeps me very grounded. It's also a career. And I've worked really hard at it. You know, I tried to really avoid the sort of celebrity DJ thing. And, you know, I kind of went the longer, harder route. I play Tech House.

It's a very congested space. There's some great, great, great, great performers and DJs in that space. But, you know, hard work. I'm still at it. And I love it, man. I really, really love it. It keeps me grounded. Music's kind of like a sort of a meditation for me.

You know what I mean? You know, I'm sort of self-taught when it comes to sort of making music. But I just have it in my blood. I love it. And difficult in a different way, I would think, because your job is to keep everybody bouncing for a half an hour or whatever it is. You better get everybody, right? Exactly. And that's magic when it happens.

You play a song and there's 5,000 people hands in the air. That energy, you can't get that in films. You can get that maybe in theater, but it's not as reactive. So with the music, it's like, you know, you're really channeling into an energy. And it's like 5,000 people, not. everyone's going to love this song, but you find this energy, you manipulate that,

and, you know, and it's just amazing. I mean, any DJ, you talk to, they'll probably explain that sort of theory. It's just that energy you tap into, and when it's working, it's incredible.

Mind you, when it's not working, do you even have nights like that? Yeah. Oh, Indra Sal was here. That's great. I think I always have nights at that. My team would be like,

you're too hard on it. I'm like, no, I just didn't hit it. I didn't hit it. I need to. That's how you keep it sharp, though. 100%. It's been such a pleasure to talk to you.

And I just feel like listening to your journey at moments like this when you're out celebrating this big Netflix movie you had, you must have a moment of pause and go, man, I worked for this. You know, I came a long way, not just from New York City, but going back to your hometown and working in that Ford plant. Do you pause and think, man, I've hustled my way pretty far here? Yes, I do. There's no doubt about that. But, you know, I still feel like I've got so much to offer. You know what I mean?

I still feel like that guy that sort of waking up in the van going, today's the day. I really do, you know what I mean? It's not that I'm greedy or anything. It's just that I never really want to lose that sort of, you know, inquisitive. What can I do? What can I offer? How can I shop and how can I achieve? I never want to lose that.

You know, we have a sort of maybe life expected. see of what 70, 80 years. And in that time, we get to use this body. What do we do with it? You know, that's really my theory. It's like, well, what do we do with it? We can sit chill and, you know, have a satisfied life. Or we can experience life.

You know what I mean? And that's what I'm about. And next up, Luther goes to Hawaii. We can't wait to see it. Hawaii, Jamaica. Yeah, just somewhere with palm trees. Yes, 100%. Thank you, man.

That's fun. Appreciate it. My big thanks again to Idris for a great conversation, and we certainly will look forward to that tropical version of Luther. You can check out Luther, The Fallen Sun, his new film now on Netflix. And my thanks to all of you for listening again this week. If you want to hear more of my conversation with our guests every week, be sure to click follow so you never miss an episode. And don't forget to tune in, of course, to Sunday today every weekend on NBC. I'm Willie Geist.

right back here next week on the Sunday Sit Down podcast.