CON: Idris Elba talks Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Fresh off the Emmy nomination, things are looking good for Idris Elba. This talented actor is facing the hordes of movie fans at Comic Con this year to promote two upcoming features with a ton of buzz behind them. From comics to aliens, Idris will be appearing in GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE and PROMETHEUS, both of which made an appearance in Hall H, with GHOST RIDER getting all sorts of buzz.

We had the fantastic opportunity to talk to this charismatic actor during the festivities of Con. He spoke about working with Nicolas Cage and even talked a little about his Emmy nominated “Luther”. While our time with him was very short, I will say that Mr. Elba is not only a fantastic actor, he is a very charming fellow.

For those of you at the Con this year, what did you think of the coverage for these two films?

Idris Elba

First off, I should say congratulations on your two Emmy nominations.

Thanks man, that’s a real pleasure and a pat on the back man. I worked my ass off for a long time so it sure pays to have that extra nom.

When you start “Luther” did you expect this kind of success?

Nah, I mean it was my return back to English television and it was just nice to be on television in a central character that I sort of helped create or produce. And the fact that it has gone on to sell to about twelve countries around the world and be very successful ratings wise and now get a Golden Globe nomination AND an Emmy Nomination for its performance stuff is amazing. Its way beyond what we thought we could do. Again, we just wanted to do some creative television on the BBC and know it has taken off a little further than that.

From “Luther” to GHOST RIDER 2, what made you want to get involved?

Well, [Mark] Neveldine and [Brian] Taylor was one and Nic Cage was definitely two for sure. [It is] just the team of guys that were working on it. I’m a part of the Sony film family – I’ve been working with them for a long time – so it’s interesting that these guys came with this film, it’s completely different from what I’ve done before. I play a sort of comic, sidekick character with a French accent, a bottle of wine and a cool leather jacket and a motorcycle. He’s THAT guy. And I just though, you know what, I’ll have a shot at doing that. Again, I like Nic Cage, I like working with him and it was a great experience for me.

Nicolas Cage certainly seems to be a major part of the Comic Con crowd the past few years…

You know, you see Nick Cage in many films, many, many, many different types of films. You can always remember his fine, stellar performances. And then it occurred to me that if he can give a stellar performance in GOD OF WAR and then come off and does comic book characters, then that shows range. It shows a man who is actually doing this because he loves to play different characters. So that actually helped me swallow the pill and do something else. What would Nic Cage do? That is the question that I’ve thought of.

Is your role very stunt heavy with this film?

Yeah, my role was definitely an action figure if you’d like. There were a lot of mechanisms used in my character, to try and get on with it. I just seen GAMER and I was like WOW. Cause I like different approaches to filmmaking. I come from television background which is typical, you know, master shot wide, with two singles and a drifting two shot. This film is completely different from that, I mean they were going to be on roller skates and motorcycles with me as I jumped from a cliff. I thought that that would be an experience I’d like to see. As an actor, you get to work with different types of directors and they all have their different styles. When someone comes along who is fresh and new and the results are good then you want to go with it.

How were they with working with you as an actor?

That was the first thing I noticed about them is that we had loads of dialogue and script notes talking about characterization. They had a very clear vision of what they wanted and they complimented me by saying that I was one of the only actors that can bring it because of the worldly nature of my character. This guy has been around the world, he’s got that sort of calm, cool, “I’ve seen that before” type of thing. We definitely explored that, and they were so on it, page for page they knew what they wanted and they knew how to do it.