Idris Elba on Suicide Squad, Covid fears and making music in Australia with Lime Cordiale

Best known as a movie hardman, Idris Elba reveals why he embraced James Gunn’s bonkers vision for The Suicide Squad.

Idris Elba was so keen to get on board for the new superhero blockbuster The Suicide Squad that he signed up without hesitation and without even reading a script.

All he needed to know was that the writer and director was James Gunn, the man who had transformed the motley group of misfits known as the Guardians of the Galaxy from a largely unknown comic book into a critical and commercial smash for Marvel Studios.

“It came about with a really passionate phone call that I got from James Gunn,” says Elba. “I was in Los Angeles at the time – and he said ‘hey man, are you in town, can I speak to you about a project I am doing?’. And I am like ‘James Gunn, are you joking? Yes, let’s go!’.”

When he finally did get his hands on the script, it was so out there that he had to read it twice: partly due his mild dyslexia, but mainly because it was completely, batshit crazy. If movie audiences thought Gunn’s talking raccoon and walking tree from GOTG were weird, wait until they get a load of Suicide Squad, featuring characters including Polka Dot Man (who throws discs of alien energy), King Shark (an ancient shark god voiced by Sylvester Stallone) and Ratcatcher (who has the power to command hordes of, you guessed it, rodents).

Idris Elba and James Gunn on the set of The Suicide Squad.

“I had to read this script twice because there was so much story and so much going on, plus I was being introduced to the world,” he says. “So, for me, it was a real deep dive into something that was just different. In the DC Universe, it’s a diamond in the rough.”

Elba’s heavily armed assassin Robert DuBois, aka Bloodsport, is arguably the most normal member of the Squad, despite his penchant for killing and pathological fear of rats. But the actor was excited by the prospect of getting to crack wise with the likes of Margot Robbie and newcomer John Cena in the darkly funny, very adult action-thriller. Having made his name in TV dramas The Wire and Luther and movie hits including American Gangster and the title role in Mandela: The Long Walk To Freedom, Elba admits somewhat wryly that he doesn’t often get the chance to flex his comedy muscles.

“No, I don’t get offered a lot of comedy,” he says with a laugh. “That’s very astute of you, James. Well done. James Gunn was really keen to push the envelope of the funnies. I have done some comedy before but I am typically the non-funny guy saying funny stuff and this was a bit more than that. It was a bit more looking into the fragility of a hard man who is scared of something really harmless.”

Idris Elba with Margot Robbie (far left) in a scene from the movie The Suicide Squad.

Elba is glowing in his praise of Robbie in particular, who returns for the third time as the psychotic Harley Quinn. While The Suicide Squad is part sequel, part reboot of 2016’s unloved but financially successful Suicide Squad, her character and Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag are the connective tissue that join the two.

“She’s a very, very cool person and it was so nice to see her bring her role back into this film and she killed it,” Elba says. “She was a leader among us because she had been part of the world for longer and it was really good to be a part of her squad on this film.”

She may also have been partly responsible for Elba’s mastery of Aussie slang. The British actor spent several months in Sydney from last November filming George “Mad Max” Miller’s new movie Three Thousand Years of Longing, but when asked about the highly secretive project, responds with the same phrase Robbie hilariously explained on the Graham Norton show a few years ago.

Idris Elba pictured with director George Miller back stage after band Lime Cordiale performed at the Enmore Theatre. 14th March 2021. Picture by Damian Shaw

“We ain’t here to f--- spiders – that’s all I can say,” he says dramatically, before adding with a laugh, “it was great. I had a great time in Sydney and it was incredible to work with George Miller and I can’t wait for the world to see what we have been working on.”

Elba’s time in Australia proved something of a respite to a rough 2020 for the actor. Not only was he one of the first celebrities to diagnosed with Covid – he feared for his life at a time when little was known about the virus, but turned out to be asymptomatic – he also wrestled with production shutdowns in his native England and the US.

Idris Elba’s Covid Instagram post from last year.

At the time Sydney, was largely Covid-free, although strict protocols were in place on set, allowing Elba to up to catch up with celebrity mates including Chris Hemsworth and Matt Damon and he says he’s devastated to see the city back in lockdown now.

“My heart goes out to Sydney at the minute because I know it’s going through a bit of a patch,” he says. “But like the rest of the world, you just have to stay resilient and smart and focused.

“It’s been tough for everyone in various ways so it’s all about perspective ultimately and for me I am definitely glad that I have had the opportunity to keep working and stay with my craft.

Chris Hemsworth parties with Idris Elba and Matt Damon in Sydney earlier this year.

Music lover Elba, also respected DJ who spun tunes at Prince Harry and Meghan’s wedding, also found time in Australia to hook up creatively with ARIA-winning indie-pop outfit, Lime Cordiale. Brothers Olly and Louis Leimbach hit it off immediately with Elba – they have the same publisher – and they not only turned that bond into a successful musical collaboration in the studio over the course of a month, they also shared a stage at a Lime Cordiale gig in March

“We made an album I would say, or an EP, of songs that literally came from that session and I am excited for the world to see it because when I came out to their show and I performed, people were like ‘what’s going on?’ but wait ‘til they hear the music between Lime Cordiale and Idris Elba.

Idris Elba performs on stage with band Lime Cordiale at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre in March. Picture by Damian Shaw

“We are gearing up to release it. We have mixed and mastered the songs – the boys are very happy and so am I. It’s one of these moments of pure art collision – their sound vs my sound and we came up with something I am really proud of.”

The Suicide Squad opens on Thursday, August 5

Idris Elba appeared in Marvel’s Thor movies as Heimdall as well as playing Bloodport for DC.

DC V MARVEL

It’s supposedly a feud that has for decades between the two comic book powerhouses of DC and Marvel – but Idris Elba says it’s more from the fans rather than the filmmakers.

By appearing as Heimdall in Chris Hemsworth Thor films and now The Suicide Squad, Elba has joined a list of A-list actors including Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern, Deadpool), Halle Berry (Catwoman, Storm), Ben Affleck (Daredevil, Batman) and Taika Waititi (Green Lantern, Thor: Ragnarok) who have flipped between the two worlds.

“There is a real understanding in the film world in terms of actors that may transfer a little bit,” he says. “I can’t explain it to you but I can tell you that the Marvel family were very happy for me to play this character and I still have a great relationship with the Marvel family.”