Idris Elba: Screenwriters Who Create Twisted Villains Need ‘a Hug’
Idris Elba is no stranger to playing darker roles, but sometimes the actor worries about just what a screenwriter was thinking when penning certain villains.
Elba told the Wall Street Journal that he finds playing “bad guy” characters to be a form of “therapy,” to some extent. Though it is the writers of such antagonists who perhaps need the real therapy. Or maybe just “a hug.”
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“These people get to say things that we only think in the deepest, darkest recesses of our brains,” Elba said of certain roles. “They say horrible things and scream horrible things and get to be completely socially unacceptable. As an actor, that’s sometimes a gift, sometimes a bit of therapy. These characters tend to be well-written.”
He added, “When you see a really interesting bad guy, you’re going to think about the actor, but think about the writer. It’s the writer who’s dark. You’ve got to give him or her a hug.”
Elba speaks openly about being in therapy himself. During the “Changes With Annie Macmanus” podcast, Elba said he’s turned to a psychologist to help his being an “absolute workaholic.”
“I work in an industry [where] I’m rewarded for those unhealthy habits. I’m rewarded for them,” Elba said. “I’m an absolute workaholic. And that isn’t great for life, generally. I’ve been in therapy for about a year now. […] I could work 10 days on a film, underwater sequences holding my breath for six minutes, and come back and sit in [the studio] and [feel relaxed], more so than sitting on the sofa with the family — which is bad right? This is the part where I’ve got to normalize what makes me relaxed, it can’t be all work.”
Elba, who has been a workaholic across film and TV all while shrugging off years-long fan casting for him to be James Bond, revealed that he hopes to work with Christopher Nolan next.
“Chris Nolan, I’d love to work with him,” Elba said. “Denzel [Washington] I’ve worked with, but I’d like to work with him again.”
So, would Alba play a bad guy in a Nolan film? Seems like the answer is an obvious yes. Elba continued that he doesn’t have set rules when selecting roles, but emphasizes the merits of the script itself instead of just the character.
“Actually, I guess I’m one of those actors who believe acting is acting. I don’t really have a formula for what to choose,” Elba said. “If I resonate with the character, I don’t have a hierarchy. Is the writing good? Is it something I’ve done before? Can I disappear in the role?”
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