He never portrays it in films, but UK native Idris Elba has that dreamy British charm that secretly make black women swoon. Known and loved (and lusted after in many cases) for playing strong urban American black men, Elba recently opened up to reveal his authentic personality as he talked about his upcoming film Obsessed and his co-star Beyonce Knowles.
“The hardest part of working on this film was trying to remember my lines when Beyonce and Ali were lying over me,” Elba said jokingly.
But the true challenge for him came with coming to the set each day and attempting to remain in the dark place required to provide an authentic and gripping intensity for Obsessed.
“The director and the actors help the process,” Elba said. “But every day it was us trying to recreate angst and tension for the entire shooting of the film.”
He credits producers, director Steve Hill and fellow cast members for allowing him the support to pull his character off convincingly.
“The Chemistry was phenomenal from day one,” Elba said. “We all had the same common goal – which was to make an authentic film a good vibe and a good working environment.”
In a film that Elba describes as a “classic thriller in the genre’s purest sense,” he plays Derek Charles.
Charles is a successful, high-powered executive whose life gets turned upside down when an administrative assistant (played by Ali Larter) begins to stalk him and wreak havoc on the relationship between him and his wife Sharon (played by Beyonce Knowles).
“I’m a fan of thrillers and I think that all of us having grown up in the last 20 years are,” Elba said. “This is quite a traditional thriller with ordinary people experiencing an extraordinary event.”
But according to Elba, nothing was quite as extraordinary as meeting his on-screen wife for the first time.
“The day I met Beyonce for the first time, we had to do a photo shoot,” Elba said. “Beyonce is an icon. She walks in and we are immediately told, ‘stand over there and start kissing for this photograph.’”
Elba admitted that Knowle’s megastar status was an awkward at the onset of filming and was dividing factor between her and the rest of the cast, crew and production staff. But ultimately, everyone adjusted and they got down to the business of making the movie.
“Once the cameras started rolling, she really opened up and those walls began to fall,” Elba said. “As a result, I really saw her grow as an artist, and I think you’ll be able to see it as well when you watch the film.”
Fans can expect a traditional thriller that has a “with a few surprises here and there,” but Elba says overall that the film is full of the expected.
“You can look at the poster and say ‘I know what this is about,’” Elba said. “It’s traditional and that’s what makes it refreshing.”
Obsessed opens in theatres nationwide tomorrow (Friday, Apr. 24). The film is rated PG-13 with a running time of 108 minutes.
