Elba did a feature that meant a lot to him with the 2015 movie Beasts of No Nation. The project saw Elba playing a military commander who adopts a young boy to be one of his child soldiers.
Right from the beginning, Elba confided that the movie was a personal project of his. His family was very familiar with the environment Beasts of No Nation took place in, so Elba almost felt obligated to do the film.
“This story is close to me because my parents come from Sierra Leone which is a country that was ravaged [by war] as you know,” Elba once told NZ Herald. “My family are definitely connected to a story like this and I just thought: I have to be a part of this film. It also gave me an opportunity to play a different and challenging character so I said ‘yes’ immediately.”
What made the film even more difficult for Elba was how closely he had to work with children. Elba and his very young co-stars had to act out some disturbing sequences for the film. And with the actor being a father at the time, it was certainly sometimes a challenge to get into character.
“Even when I watch the film I’m in tears because I hate to see children suffering, I just hate it. And now that I have kids it’s even worse,” he said.
The role left such an impression on The Wire star that it even affected him mentally for a while.
“I came out of the film mentally scared because of how disgusting my character was,” Elba once told Metro (via FemaleFirst). “I’d rather train and fight than do that again. But nothing compares to being a dad – that’s a labor of love and a different sought of toughness.”
Elba accidentally put himself in mortal danger on the set of No Nation. In an interview with The Guardian, he recalled how the film’s director Cary Fukunaga warned him about a scene he had to do.
“I nearly died … We decided to do this waterfall scene where all these child soldiers were walking behind this massive waterfall,” he said. “Cary Fukunaga, the director, decided to shoot it for real. We went to this waterfall and in this scene my character is standing there watching all the child soldiers go past. Now in the setup of that, the stunt co-ordinator says, ‘Listen everyone, this is a waterfall, that’s a 90, 100ft drop down there and the ground is very slippery, just be careful!’”
But The Suicide Squad actor wasn’t careful enough, and a simple scene could’ve easily turned tragic.
“I put my foot on this rock just to hang out and chill out while they were setting up and as I’m doing that it’s slippery, obviously. I slip … I put my hand on this tree – it’s not a tree, it’s a branch. It snaps and I go literally about six feet before I go bang over and I got caught by the security guy,” he recalled.
Despite the dangers, Elba had fond memories of his time on Beasts of No Nation. He also revealed that he wasn’t the only one there who nearly succumbed to the elements.
“It was a great experience though, that was my most harrowing [film to shoot]. The director caught malaria and survived and it was great and he kept working so it was that type of shoot,” he said.
Right from the beginning, Elba confided that the movie was a personal project of his. His family was very familiar with the environment Beasts of No Nation took place in, so Elba almost felt obligated to do the film.
“This story is close to me because my parents come from Sierra Leone which is a country that was ravaged [by war] as you know,” Elba once told NZ Herald. “My family are definitely connected to a story like this and I just thought: I have to be a part of this film. It also gave me an opportunity to play a different and challenging character so I said ‘yes’ immediately.”
What made the film even more difficult for Elba was how closely he had to work with children. Elba and his very young co-stars had to act out some disturbing sequences for the film. And with the actor being a father at the time, it was certainly sometimes a challenge to get into character.
“Even when I watch the film I’m in tears because I hate to see children suffering, I just hate it. And now that I have kids it’s even worse,” he said.
The role left such an impression on The Wire star that it even affected him mentally for a while.
“I came out of the film mentally scared because of how disgusting my character was,” Elba once told Metro (via FemaleFirst). “I’d rather train and fight than do that again. But nothing compares to being a dad – that’s a labor of love and a different sought of toughness.”
Elba accidentally put himself in mortal danger on the set of No Nation. In an interview with The Guardian, he recalled how the film’s director Cary Fukunaga warned him about a scene he had to do.
“I nearly died … We decided to do this waterfall scene where all these child soldiers were walking behind this massive waterfall,” he said. “Cary Fukunaga, the director, decided to shoot it for real. We went to this waterfall and in this scene my character is standing there watching all the child soldiers go past. Now in the setup of that, the stunt co-ordinator says, ‘Listen everyone, this is a waterfall, that’s a 90, 100ft drop down there and the ground is very slippery, just be careful!’”
But The Suicide Squad actor wasn’t careful enough, and a simple scene could’ve easily turned tragic.
“I put my foot on this rock just to hang out and chill out while they were setting up and as I’m doing that it’s slippery, obviously. I slip … I put my hand on this tree – it’s not a tree, it’s a branch. It snaps and I go literally about six feet before I go bang over and I got caught by the security guy,” he recalled.
Despite the dangers, Elba had fond memories of his time on Beasts of No Nation. He also revealed that he wasn’t the only one there who nearly succumbed to the elements.
“It was a great experience though, that was my most harrowing [film to shoot]. The director caught malaria and survived and it was great and he kept working so it was that type of shoot,” he said.
