Actor Idris Elba has a new film in which he faces off against a big cat in South Africa. Beast naturally does not feature a real lion for the acclaimed entertainer to match wits with because this would be dangerous. Maybe it was safer, but acting with the lion’s stand-in, Elba said, was absurd work.
Elba made comments about the behind-the-scenes process in which a man in a suit stands in for the final computer-generated creation in a new article published by Digital Spy. He said the lion performer is a lovely fellow, but he could not maintain his composure watching his acting antagonist pretend to growl like a lion even with sound being put in as edits later on. Real animals were used in earlier decades on projects like Roar, but that practice often caused serious injuries to human beings.
“He’s like, ‘I know, I just can’t help doing it.’ And at one point I was like, ‘No, seriously, it’s making me laugh. I’m trying to be serious and [it’s] scary and you’re actually making me laugh.'”
Beast is now playing in the United States. It has received mixed reviews likening it to a disposable product. Elba has a number of projects coming up. These include Luther, Three Thousand Years of Longing, and Hijack. While many still hope for it, people should not count on the 49-year-old playing James Bond. He recently said he was tired of being asked about it. Producers of the series have also said to not expect the character’s return for at least two years and that whoever takes on the role of the misogynistic and charming British spy next will be someone in their 30s, so Elba and a host of other favorites are out.