How Elba Copes In Times Of Crisis

Idris Elba says he was perfectly cast for his latest film, the survival adventure Beast. His character is tested to the limit by a giant marauding lion — and Elba thinks he always plays it cool in a crisis.

Talking about the dangers facing his character Nate — including the much-publicised scene where he punches the lion — Elba admitted: “I’m really not the kind of personality who panics in a crisis. I’ve been in situations where, if you panic, you just make the wrong decision.”

In Beast (in cinemas now) Elba a recently widowed father on holiday with his daughters on a South African game reserve. When poachers kill a group of lions, the lone survivor is one very angry male, which goes rogue and attacks every human it sees, including Nate and his family. It pursues them relentlessly, eventually leading to a one-on-one showdown between man and beast….