Idris Elba to stop acting “eventually to transfer to being a director fully”; talks Apple feature ‘This Is How It Goes’

Idris Elba has spoken of his plans to move away from acting, towards working solely as a director.

“I’m hoping that my fan base as an actor isn’t mad at me, but eventually, I want to transfer to being a director fully,” said Elba, in the latest In Conversation talk at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival.

Known for acting roles including Russell ‘Stringer’ Bell in The Wire and DCI John Luther in Luther, Elba directed his first feature Yardie in 2018. He has shot two further features that are yet to come out: sci-fi thriller Above The Below, and Ghana-filmed Apple Original Films title This Is How It Goes.

As part of his In Conversation session, the director presented the MENA premiere of his new short film Dust To Dreams.

“I’ve been acting for a long time,” said Elba, who has filmed upcoming feature roles in Amazon’s Masters Of The Universe and Paramount’s Children Of Blood And Bone. “I love it still, but directing allows me to flex slightly different muscles and be a part of the set in a different way. I really enjoy it.”

This Is How It Goes is an adaptation of Neil LaBute’s 2005 play about the repercussions of an interracial love triangle in small town America. Elba starred in its West End debut at the Donmar Warehouse in 2005; filming on his feature version wrapped last week.

“I bought the rights to the film and transposed the story so it’s a white man and a Black woman and a Black man comes to live in the house,” said Elba. “It’s fascinating just how much of the story transposed good; and some of it, not so good.”

“The Midwest is very different from England in terms of racial dynamics. So transposing was a lot of fun to do, but it was difficult to make it happen in an authentic way.”

Elba will star in the film, alongside Wunmi Mosaku and Charlie Cox. Elba revealed that the film starts at a wedding in Ghana.

“Ghana is very different from Lagos in terms of a shooting environment in Africa,” said Elba. “Same same in terms of the climate and the technicalities, but the cultures are different, how you make movies there.”

Filming in Lagos

Produced by established Nigerian producer Mo Abudu for her EbonyLife Films, the Dust To Dreams short shot in Nigeria, which has its own thriving Nollywood industry. Elba said filming in the country was “very similar” to the UK and US, but with “different processes… a different climate.”

“In the west, there are unionised hours – you’ve got SAG, Equity, Pact. These are designed to build a good work environment,” said Elba.

“In Lagos, they have unions as well, but the filmmaking comes first. We did long hours; nobody complained. We didn’t abuse the hours, but everyone was willing to go further – let’s do it until it’s finished.

“We worked in some areas where you had to pay respects to the chief or the area boys. That process wasn’t any different from seeking a permit in the west; you just have to have a cultural understanding of how to do it.”

“People’s temperaments are different in Lagos,” added Elba. “Lagosians are very tough people – brash, talk loud. Do this! Come on! Let’s go! Hurry up!

“I’m more English – ‘do you mind if we do this please?’” said the filmmaker. “Once I got used to that, I got there in the end.”

Changing the narrative around storytelling in Africa remains a priority for the filmmaker, who reiterated several times in the session that he will continue to turn down roles as a slave; and wants to make films from the continent that are about something other than conflict. “I’ve been talking about filmmakers and storytelling from Africa for a long time,” said Elba. “Anywhere that has an underserved voice, where the narrative is fed to us rather than us providing a narrative. The Middle East has similar issues in the way the world looks at this region.

“It’s important that filmmakers, storytellers from places that have their culture suppressed or formed by opinion, have a springboard, a voice.

“It’s important for me as a director, as an actor, to put my money where my mouth is.”

Elba was joined on stage before the screening by Dust To Dreams cast members Nse Ikpe-Etim and Constance Olatunde; with Seal also starring in the short. The conversation was hosted by Red Sea director of international programs Fionnuala Halligan.

The Red Sea In Conversation programme continues today with Riz Ahmed and Edgar Ramirez; with the festival running until Saturday, December 13.

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