Usually, the handsome, debonair actor Idris Elba plays the man of our of dreams, though in the latest installment, or rather, spinoff of the Fast & Furious franchise, Hobbs & Shaw, Elba plays the man of our nightmares (but still somehow our dreams).
In the movie, he plays the ultimate bad guy, Brixton. The character isn’t quite a man; he’s very much a robot. Though somewhere deep down inside, are his feelings.
As a viewer, you’re only supposed to root for the movie’s namesakes, Hobbs or Shaw, but the way Elba gives us Brixton, it’s hard to want his evil character to fail.
ESSENCE was invited to London to sit down with Idris Elba at the penthouse of the Four Seasons. With the iconic London Bridge in the background behind Elba, we talked to him about the type of villain he is and how he managed to play the role with so much heart.
“When you’re a villain, you have to have a good quality. You can’t just be all bad,” Elba explained. Check out the video above to get a full cheat sheet from the master actor on how to tackle villain roles.