Idris Elba Interview - RocknRolla at Comic Con 2008

with Rebecca Murray

Transcript: Idris Elba Interview - RocknRolla at Comic Con 2008

Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con.

Idris Elba – 'Mumbles' in RocknRolla

Idris Elba: "Sorry I jumped into your interview there."

That was cool. You and [Gerard Butler] are twins, huh?

Idris Elba: "We are not twins. Same dad."

So you guys do play close compadres in this – partners in crime?

Idris Elba: "Yes. He plays One Two and I play Mumbles."

Why aren't you Three Four?

Idris Elba: "No, see that wouldn't work out."

Why?

Idris Elba: "One Two Three Four – they'd get confused. They'd have to say, 'One Two Mumbles,' and so we come over, yeah. I don't know. My character doesn't mumble, how about that?"

So where did the nickname come from?

Idris Elba: "I don't know. It's Guy Ritchie's clever name."

His twisted imagination.

Idris Elba: "There you go – twisted imagination."

What is he like to work with?

Idris Elba: "Guy Ritchie's a good guy to work with. He's focused, he knows what he wants. He makes a good movie."

And this is a twisted one, but it's a comedy, right?

Idris Elba: "There are so many characters in this and great actors, and a huge plot. But it's so funny. The action sequences are funny."

How do you have funny action sequences?

Idris Elba: "Well, I'll tell you. I don't want to give away the game but there's one sequence where we're running away from these guys that just won't die. I mean, we bat him down, we shot them, we do this and they just keep getting up. And after a while it becomes comedy."

So killing the same person over and over again is comedy in a Guy Ritchie movie.

Idris Elba: "Wait till you see it. Wait till you see it and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. It's fu-larious. Fu-larious."

That is a good word.

Idris Elba: "It's f* hilarious."

Got it. You bleeped yourself. That was very nice of you.

Idris Elba: "I did. I wanted the editor to see that I was profanity conscious."

How quickly do you sign on to a Guy Ritchie project?

Idris Elba: "I mean honestly, you've got to make sure it is what you can do. You know, Guy Ritchie has a certain style and I absolutely wanted to challenge myself and do that style, and you sign on. He called me and said, 'I'd love you to do it.' And, of course, I'd worked with Joel Silver before. Cool guys to make movies with, basically, and I said, 'Yeah, I want to do it.'"

And he does this thing where he counts down 5, 4, 3, 2 before he does a scene. Tell me about that.

Idris Elba: "Weird, you know? You're not sure what's going on. It's like, 'Okay, we're going in 5, 4...,' 'Hold on, Guy,' '3,' 'No, wait Guy, honestly my pants, I need to pull my pants up,' '1, action!' And you're ready."

And you've got to be ready no matter what?

Idris Elba: "Well, you're supposed to be."

Is it a cool way to work?

Idris Elba: "If you pay attention, it is."

Do you not pay attention on the set?

Idris Elba: "I always pay attention. Pay attention to me."

And you've got The Unborn coming up.

Idris Elba: "Unborn is coming out, David Goyer's film. Me and Gary Oldman. Gary's a great guy, guys. He's fantastic. Odette Yustman's in that one. It's a good cast."

More on RocknRolla:

RocknRolla Photos

The RocknRolla Cast at Comic Con Photo Gallery

RocknRolla Trailer, Credits, and News

More on RocknRolla Stars Gerard Butler

and Jeremy Piven

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