{"id":62208,"date":"2012-01-05T14:08:56","date_gmt":"2012-01-05T14:08:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/0de2709a84.nxcli.net\/0-kjasnb\/2012\/01\/05\/idris-elba-on-playing-original-characters\/"},"modified":"2018-12-18T13:16:41","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T13:16:41","slug":"idris-elba-on-playing-original-characters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/idris-elba-on-playing-original-characters\/","title":{"rendered":"Idris Elba On Playing Original Characters and Preparing For Roles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Idris Elba<\/a> On Playing Original Characters and Preparing For Roles<\/strong>by Wilson Morales<\/p>\n

January 5, 2011<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The folks at Collider.com<\/a><\/strong> had a chance to chat with actor Idris Elba<\/a><\/strong> recently on the set of his upcoming film, ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance,’<\/a><\/strong> the follow-up to the 2007 that starred Nicolas Cage<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Having taken some flack<\/a> for playing the Norse God Heimdall in the Marvel comic book ‘Thor,’<\/strong> Elba, who wasn’t involved in the first ‘Ghost Rider’ film, talked about playing an original character in the sequel and how he prepares for the roles he’s given.<\/p>\n

Is it liberating to be in a movie like this and you\u2019re an original character, so you don\u2019t have to worry about people\u2019s expectations? People expect Superman to be one way, or Spider-Man to be a certain way. You have a clean slate.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong>Elba:<\/strong> Yeah. Free agent. Free agent character. And the actors that play those characters are allowed to carve something quite unique if they want to. So for me, yeah, it was just great. I\u2019m sure if I was to play a character that everyone knows, the detail, the attention to what the comic readers want would be on the forefront of my mind. But here on the forefront of my mind is creating a dynamic character and having a little fun with it. I like to make him realistic, because obviously with the dialogue and the plots, it\u2019s like, so I try and steep my character in some sort of realism. So even if it\u2019s over the top, I like to keep \u2018em grounded and real, so you believe every moment, you know? You believe it.<\/p>\n

And I wanted to know if you could talk a little bit about how you prepare for all your roles? Maybe you do things differently for certain roles, or more time for others? If you could sort of talk about your process.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong>Elba: <\/strong>It really depends on the role, obviously. Some roles demand that I do the work, but to be honest my whole style is never to do too much work. Because the truth of the matter is if the script is good enough and the plot is good enough and it\u2019s air tight, it allows the actor to actually live that moment right there off the page, so the preparation takes away. Now there are certain things you have to prepare\u2014like dialect and special skills. But in the moment interaction between two characters on the page doesn\u2019t need\u2014for me, I don\u2019t need to prepare that. For example, in Luther<\/em>, my BBC thing, there isn\u2019t that much preparation for it. It\u2019s all on the page. I know my character; it\u2019s written on the page. And then basically I show up on the day and the actors and I get on with it. But then in something like Sometimes in April<\/em>, where I played a Rwandan soldier, I went to Rwanda for a month before that to soak in what that feels like. That was my preparation process, was a matter of just understanding the environment that my character lived in. It was a period piece, it was 10 years prior, so I needed to understand the time period and what was going on there. So that\u2019s my process, it\u2019s more cerebral than anything. I try not to overdo it with the method stuff. If it\u2019s on the page, then I\u2019ll live it, you know?<\/p>\n

For more on Elba’s ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance’ <\/a><\/strong>on-set interview, click here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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