{"id":216833,"date":"2025-10-11T13:33:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T13:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/216833\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T13:33:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T13:33:13","slug":"idris-elba-on-playing-the-u-s-president-in-a-house-of-dynamite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/216833\/","title":{"rendered":"Idris Elba on Playing the U.S. President in ‘A House of Dynamite’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although \u201cA House of Dynamite<\/a>\u201d star Idris Elba<\/a> did say at the Netflix<\/a> release\u2019s Venice Film Festival press conference<\/a> that he \u201cdoes not have the courage to be in politics,\u201d he certainly does not shy away from playing heads of state on film<\/a>. Over a decade after his Golden Globe-nominated performance as Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa, in \u201cLong Walk to Freedom,\u201d the British actor has played both the British Prime Minister in \u201cHeads of State<\/a>,\u201d and the President of the United States in the new political thriller from Best Director Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow.<\/p>\n

Speaking to IndieWire over Zoom, Elba said that while he is still not interested in being a politician, \u201cI\u2019m not shy of perhaps bringing my voice to something, bringing my soapbox in some way and articulating what I\u2019d like to see happening.\u201d But in accepting the presidential role in \u201cA House of Dynamite,\u201d he was not driven by some pain point he wanted to address, as much as he was excited to work with the people behind the film.<\/p>\n

\"Is<\/a> \"Jafar<\/a> <\/p>\n

Diagnosing why exactly he seems like the right person to play political leaders, the seven-time Primetime Emmy nominee said, \u201cYou see actors oftentimes get into civil roles because of [the] skillset transfer into these things, but it\u2019s really not something good that I\u2019m going for.\u201d He added, \u201cI read this thing that said, \u2018Typically we choose our leaders because of height and length of forehead.\u2019 And I was like, \u2018Well, yeah, I\u2019m tall and I do have a forehead, so maybe that\u2019s what\u2019s going on here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Below, Elba shares what it was like to not only play a President who must react to a nuclear missile headed for the United States but also what it was like to watch the movie as an audience member, without prior access to the full scope of the film, which also features strong performances from a star-studded cast that includes Rebecca Ferguson<\/a> and Tracy Letts.<\/p>\n

The following interview has been condensed for length and clarity.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

IndieWire: Earlier this year, we saw you play the British Prime Minister in \u201cHeads of State,\u201d and now you play the President of the United States in \u201cA House of Dynamite.\u201d When and how did you become the go-to guy to play a world leader?<\/p>\n

Idris Elba: When Morgan Freeman said, \u201cI ain\u2019t doing that no more.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a better answer than anything I could have thought.<\/p>\n

Yeah, I snuck in there. It\u2019s not by design. I found it very funny playing the Prime Minister and knowing that I am about to play the President. I was thinking about [how] the films are going to be in a similar cycle. So I was like, \u201cOK, people are going to ask me about this. What am I trying to say?\u201d I\u2019m not trying to say anything. I\u2019m not running for politics or anything like that.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re following Morgan Freeman, the next step is deities. Are you ready for that?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

As far as how this film relates to more of your past work, I was wondering if you were attracted to \u201cA House of Dynamite\u201d as a story giving audiences a peek behind a power structure, similar to how \u201cThe Wire\u201d informed audiences about the goings-on of different institutions. Are you particularly intrigued by scripts about how these systems and processes work?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s always a curiosity when I\u2019m playing characters, especially characters that have a complexity to them. Maybe a natural contradiction in what they are and what they need to do, and who they are and what they need to say, and who I am and what I look like playing this character. The complexities are really interesting to me. John Luther is a detective who is pretty much a crook at the same time.<\/p>\n

I guess I\u2019m attracted to that type of character, but at the same time, I don\u2019t really feel there\u2019s a sort of real formula to the way I go for characters. And probably I should have a formula, but I don\u2019t. I actually go for, \u201cHave I done it before? Could I do a good job? What would I learn from this? Is there a skill set that I get out of it?\u201d I\u2019ve learned to do all kinds of crazy things, from sword-fighting to driving cars really fast by way of these different characters.<\/p>\n

\"WriterWriter Noah Oppenheim, Idris Elba, and their guests attend the Netflix film \u2018A House of Dynamite\u2019, NYFF Main Slate Premiere and Q&A on September 28, 2025 in New York City.Getty Images for Netflix<\/p>\n

Was there at all a message in this project that you were attracted to? In terms of wanting people to see this film because of what it means?<\/p>\n

Not in the beginning, if I\u2019m really honest. I was just like, \u201cI\u2019d like to work with Kathryn Bigelow.\u201d A bucket list opportunity. When I got to understand what the film was about and who my character is, I definitely latched onto the idea that [when] we elect a leader, I wonder, do we think long and hard enough about what and who we\u2019re electing, and what will happen if we put our lives in that person\u2019s hands?<\/p>\n

I suppose playing the character as a human being as opposed to a POTUS, big, strong guy, [who\u2019s] got to make all the decisions\u2026 Just someone that actually is a human being, wants to talk to his wife, doesn\u2019t have the answers, isn\u2019t afraid to ask, his shoe\u2019s a little tight, his coffee\u2019s a little cold. Playing that human side hopefully reminds the audience that, actually, when we do decide who\u2019s our leader, just remember they\u2019re human. And this is what it looks like when they have to make a very complex decision on all of our behalfs. This is what it looks like.<\/p>\n

Would you say there\u2019s any sort of partisanship applied to your character?<\/p>\n

We definitely ignored that. We tried to show none whatsoever. And I don\u2019t know, as an audience member, what did you think? Did you think that he was there on one side or the other?<\/p>\n

I found it pretty objective. There\u2019s things you can read into, but it does not fully imply he\u2019s this war hawk. You talked about the goal of him being human, the work reflects that. But shifting gears, do you know if you were one of the first actors cast in this film?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure, actually. I don\u2019t know. I remember Kathryn talking about wanting to know who her president would be, and that might help her put together some of the other pieces. But I wasn\u2019t clear if I was the first person. I know that she said to me quite frankly that she didn\u2019t want to speak to any other actors about it, just wanted me, and to that I was like, \u201cWow, no pressure. You sure you don\u2019t want to speak to Morgan Freeman?\u201d<\/p>\n

Did you have any say in your cabinet? Because if you\u2019re someone coming in early, are you able to then say, \u201cWell, I think this person would be good for this role.\u201d Or anything along those lines?<\/p>\n

No. Again, I didn\u2019t have any exposure to who was going to be in the movie, and by the time I got to shoot that segment of the film, they had already shot everything else. But needless to say, it\u2019s Kathryn and her taste for amazing actors to pick the characters that she creates is good. She has high standards.<\/p>\n

\"IdrisIdris Elba as POTUS in \u2018A House of Dynamite\u2019Eros Hoagland\/Netflix<\/p>\n

Outside of Jonah Hauer-King and Brian Tee, who were around you physically? Did you actually get to work with this whole cast? Or were you acting opposite someone reading lines as, say, Tracy Letts?<\/p>\n

No, I was pretty isolated, apart from the characters that were in my story. And I got to listen to playback for the questions and, honestly, I was lucky that I got Tracy Letts\u2019s performance as my driving material. And they had my performance, even though I hadn\u2019t performed it. They had me [do] a telephone run of my lines before I even shot it, which was a bit like, \u201cOh, I don\u2019t even know what I\u2019m going to do.\u201d But I just trusted the script, and they used that in their side of the coverage.<\/p>\n

In terms of your character\u2019s First Lady, who is away in Kenya, had you ever met Ren\u00e9e Elise Goldsberry? Because that\u2019s such an emotional moment in the film, but it sounds like that might\u2019ve also been playback.<\/p>\n

Yeah, actually, that was the one casting opportunity that Kathryn sort of asked [for] my opinion, and we were really lucky to get Ren\u00e9e, she was amazing. And I did. She came to set, but she shot all of her stuff in Kenya, but we were lucky to speak to each other and just look each other in the eye and have a quick connection, I guess.<\/p>\n

What level of improvisation was part of this film? Hearing you talk about the basketball game, that wasn\u2019t all lined up in the script? You guys were building that as you went along?<\/p>\n

Yeah, it very much felt like a documentary. I think Kathryn wanted that. She didn\u2019t want to know what I was going to say or what I was going to do, and of course, the lines that were written, I say those lines, but if I decided to take off my shoe and say, \u201cHey, what\u2019s going on with the shoe?\u201d That was completely improvised. She encouraged that. When I meet the girls on the basketball court and I\u2019m telling them a story, I just made one up, and then I had to remember what I made up because we did it a couple of times, and I actually really felt quite liberated by that because it just meant that I was really in the character, in the moment. There\u2019s cameras everywhere, and you don\u2019t know where they all are, so there\u2019s no point acting, just being is what it is and being reactive.<\/p>\n

And there were scenes, there were some lines where Jonah and I were in the middle [of talking], and one of them made it into the scene; where he\u2019s talking and I stop him and I say, \u201cHow old are you, son?\u201d And Jonah was so great, he\u00a0 just made it up. I said, \u201cYou married?\u201d And he goes, \u201cYes, sir.\u201d And just that break in the lines brought a certain realism, and Barry [Ackroyd] was on camera, and he\u2019s trying to find this. \u201cHell, this isn\u2019t written down, what is this?\u201d And it really just helped the realism aspect of it.<\/p>\n

Speaking of how real things got, did you actually have a close look at what you say is a diner menu of nuclear options that this president has to review? Would an actual POTUS see that to a T?<\/p>\n

We wouldn\u2019t know if it was to the T, but [we] very much designed on what we understood to be fact, the choices the POTUS has in that box all the time. And it is a menu of counterstrikes, thinking in an emergency. And yeah, even though it wasn\u2019t to the T as we might understand it, it was very much close, and it was shocking. And many choices of what to do [were] mind-blowing for me. When we shot it, he opened it up, and here\u2019s this long incredible speech about it, and I\u2019m like, \u201cWhat?!\u201d<\/p>\n

So you\u2019re taking a look at it for the first time in the scene, not quite beforehand?<\/p>\n

No, it was all real.<\/p>\n

\"TracyTracy Letts, Greta Lee, Idris Elba, Kathryn Bigelow, Rebecca Ferguson, Anthony Ramos, Gabriel Basso, Jared HarrisEarl Gibson III\/Deadline<\/p>\n

An authentic surprise. Now that you\u2019ve seen the whole film, what is it like watching it and dealing with its entertainment factor versus its realism?<\/p>\n

I watched the film as an audience member because I didn\u2019t know much about the first two acts. I had read them obviously, but I didn\u2019t know what to expect. I didn\u2019t know who was cast. I didn\u2019t know what the atmosphere would look like and feel like. So when I watched the movie, I was like anyone who watched it for the first time, and even my segment was like, \u201cOh my. . . It blew my mind.\u201d I sat there [for] probably about three or four, five minutes just in silence afterwards. \u201cWhat did I just watch? Was that a movie or was that a documentary?\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the experience is a bit of frustration with your character until we actually see what\u2019s going on with him. Did you know that when you were playing him, or did you not pick up on that until you were actually watching the film?<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know that, actually. From my character\u2019s perspective, \u201cYou\u2019re telling me I need to get on the phone, the phone is not working. Who am I talking to? Who is this guy? Wait, you\u2019re waiting for me? I\u2019m busy, I\u2019m doing something. I was in the middle of something. What\u2019s happening here?\u201d Playing catch-up. And then when I watched the movie, I was like, \u201cThe president needs to get on the phone. What is he doing?!\u201d<\/p>\n

And then you watch the movie, \u201cIs it a basketball game? Wait, what?\u201d I felt the frustration for the audience because it was like, \u201cIsn\u2019t he supposed to be on the phone right now? Why is his phone not working?\u201d But there you go, again, that\u2019s probably very close to how it would go down.<\/p>\n

I believe you\u2019ve directed or are going to direct a couple upcoming features, \u201cAbove the Below\u201d and \u201cInfernus,\u201d since working on \u201cA House of Dynamite.\u201d Did you have any takeaways on that front from working with Kathryn Bigelow?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m directing my next film now. I\u2019ve learned a lot working with Kathryn. She has this incredible, observant perspective on how she makes films. It makes me think about my story, my characters, my environments much deeper, and I\u2019m really looking forward to getting behind the camera, having now worked with one of my directing heroes.<\/p>\n

\u201cA House of Dynamite,\u201d a Netflix release, is now in select theaters on Friday, October 10. The film will begin streaming on Netflix on Friday, October 24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Although \u201cA House of Dynamite\u201d star Idris Elba did say at the Netflix release\u2019s Venice Film Festival press…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[81548,236,88,2695,81549,5450,217],"class_list":{"0":"post-216833","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-a-house-of-dynamite","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-film","12":"tag-idris-elba","13":"tag-interviews","14":"tag-netflix"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}