Coming out this week from Universal Pictures is “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw,” a film that marks the first spin-off in the long-running franchise and starring Dwayne Johnson’s Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham’s assassin Deckard Shaw.
The film is directed by David Leitch (Deadpool 2) from a script by longtime Fast & Furious narrative architect Chris Morgan.
Ever since hulking lawman Hobbs (Johnson), a loyal agent of America’s Diplomatic Security Service, and lawless outcast Shaw (Statham), a former British military elite operative, first faced off in 2015’s Furious 7, the duo have swapped smack talk and body blows as they’ve tried to take each other down.But when cyber-genetically enhanced anarchist Brixton (Idris Elba) gains control of an insidious bio-threat that could alter humanity forever — and bests a brilliant and fearless rogue MI6 agent (The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby), who just happens to be Shaw’s sister — these two sworn enemies will have to partner up to bring down the only guy who might be badder than themselves.
For Elba, he’s no stranger in playing the villain. From No Good Deed opposite Taraji P. Henson, voicing Shere Khan in Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book, and playing Krall in Star Trek Beyond, Elba is quite good at being the baddie, the one you are rooting against. With this film, he gets to flex his muscle literally as the action scenes and fight scenes between him and Johnson and Statham are more than one would expect.
Blackfilm.com caught up with Elba as he spoke exclusively regarding his role in the film and working with the two leads.
You’ve been in high demand for a lot of roles, so what made you say yes to this?
Idris Elba: It’s a combination of things. One is the director, David Leitch. I’m a admirer of his work. I like his stories. I like his movies, and I like the way he shoots. I was really interested in working with him. In working with Dwayne and Jason, they are the biggest of what they do in this world of action and; Dwayne, especially with his unique blend of charisma, high comedy and high octane action. O just felt that this is something I haven’t done before. I have done action but not with the top of the game. It was great. That was part of the motivation. Fast and Furious is arguably one of the most successful film franchises in the world. To be a part of that is great.
Had you seen all of the film when they came out or did you have to catch up?
Idris Elba: I had seen two or three of them, Tokyo Drift and maybe the first one.
For this film, did you have to catch up to get a sense of the characters?
Idris Elba: Because this is a spinoff of the franchise, I didn’t want to get tainted by that. I wanted to start from scratch.
How would you best describe Brixton?
Idris Elba: The trailers are designed to entice people into moments of the film that they think will lure you to come see it. When you watch the film itself, it’s slightly a more streamlined version of Brixton. I say streamlined because this character is part man part machine and an egotistical maniac. He is a soldier taking orders. People are hopefully going to be satisfied with the level of action that I committed to and got involved in in a way that I haven’t before. Brixton is a character that has interesting potential. He’s basically stepping into the world of sci-fi a little bit. That’s an area I pretty excited about.
How tech savvy are you?
Idris Elba: I know what are the trends is, human modification and what’s actually out there, and this is way more than you think. This idea that anatomy and technology will start to emerge is not a new idea in the way that you and I use our cell phones practically, for everything from communication and to waking you up in the morning, to reading your news, and to being your assistant. That isn’t a far fetched theory.
How was the chemistry between you, Dwayne and Jason?
Idris Elba: It’s a good chemistry. It all starts with the top, the director and his energy and what he brings to it. We worked hard. We did long hours and because of the style of the film where the action is really intense, we really wanted to be present for the director. It was a lot of work but his energy transferred into the chemistry you see on camera between the characters.
What’s the lore to keeping a franchise going?
Idris Elba: I guess it’s about staying as close to the original source as you can. There’s going to be Vodka and Vodka mixes, but it’s always going to have Vodka in it. There’s still essence of the original film which is based on partnerships friendships. There’s going to be people that are but you know, but ultimately with all the cause and all the action, it’s a human story at the end of it and that’s why build a franchise. You don’t go in to write a script thinking, this is going to be a franchise. You hope it can lead to one but the original has to be good. Then you take the elements of the original and you start to expand those and I think audiences now are smarted. They know whether this is something they want to see again, and they know that it takes if we see it again, we want to expand it will take it deeper down certain channels and storylines.
The trailer for Cats was just released and you’re featured in it. You’re known to be a DJ outside of film, but are we going to see you sing in the film?
Idris Elba: I’m doing an album soon. This is a passion. I love it. I do it for the fun, and for the creativity of it. This is a great opportunity to talk about the fact that I wrote a song for this film,. I worked with the legendary Cypress Hill. I put together a song that actually made the film in the big car chase scene that you see and it’s available in the soundtrack. That is the best of both worlds. Being able to say it to the director that you wrote a song and he saying that it’s going to work is great.
With Cats and The Suicide Squad coming up, what makes you say yes to these projects?
Idris Elba: I think it’s more about variety than just the role. I like to look back at my resume and say that I tried here and there. I think it’s easier for actors to stay with the thing that’s the most successful, but for me, it’s important to have a variety where I can do so many different things as possible.
When do you start shooting The Suicide Squad?
Idris Elba: I start that in September. I’m looking forward to doing that.
Hobbs & Shaw will hit the theaters on August 2, 2019.
Trailer 2
Final Trailer
Loading…