Idris Elba on 4 a.m. Workouts and His Friendship With Taylor Swift

The actor talks about skin care routines, playing the bad guy and his new docuseries, out now

By Lane Florsheim June 3, 2024 8:00 am ET

Twenty-two years ago, the British actor Idris Elba landed the role that would change his life, playing drug kingpin Stringer Bell on HBO’s “The Wire.” Elba, 51, used his first big paycheck from the show to buy a truck, which remains his most prized possession.

“I love it because it’s the same age as my daughter,” he said.

In other words, Isan Elba has been alive since her dad became famous, rooting him on as he played Nelson Mandela; transformed into a Marvel hero and a “Suicide Squad” villain; and won his first Golden Globe. But she appears to have reservations about his modeling career: In a viral TikTok this year, she feigned a horror-movie scream at seeing her father replace a ripped Jeremy Allen White in Calvin Klein ads around New York City.

“I discovered that like the world did,” Elba said of the video. “I discovered that my daughter was trolling me amongst the 10 million people who were watching that.”

Elba lives in London with his wife, Sabrina Elba. When he’s not acting, he raps and DJs, most famously at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 2018 wedding. His next project is “Erased: WW2’s Heroes of Color,” a National Geographic docu-series that he narrated and executive-produced through his production company, 22 Summers. Here, Elba discusses his inspiration for the series, his fondness for his “Cats” castmate Taylor Swift and why he likes playing the bad guy.

What time do you get up on Mondays, and what’s the first thing you do after waking up?

If I’m working, I’m probably up at 4 a.m. The first thing I do is have a shower. I really love the feeling of water on me as I’m waking up.

How do you like your coffee?

I drink black Americanos.

What’s your exercise routine like?

If I’m not filming, I really don’t have an exercise routine. For a long time, I used to train for kickboxing. I’ve been up at 4 a.m. doing five-mile runs, and it’s torture. So now in my advanced age, I opt to not do it.

What about skin care and grooming?

My wife and I have a skin care company called S’able Labs. So up until four years ago, I really didn’t pay much attention to a routine. As an actor, your face is looked after by makeup teams who do lots of different things to make you look TV-worthy. Now the routine is to make sure I cleanse, I have a toner, I use moisturizer and a serum.

Do you meditate or journal or otherwise find time to reflect?

Usually I just close my eyes and imagine the air traveling into my nose, literally picturing it being drawn in, and weirdly enough, just thinking about the air coming from the room into my nose makes me really concentrate on breathing.

In the intro of “Erased: WW2’s Heroes of Color,” you say that your grandfather was one of these soldiers. What about him made you want to dig deeper into the history?

I don’t know much about him. My mom doesn’t have a single picture of him. She was his lastborn—he had 10 children in West Africa after he left World War II. Instead of going back to Kansas City where he was from, he ended up in Ghana. Some of these soldiers, when they had the opportunity to go back to their homes, especially American soldiers, found that home wasn’t a home. They were faced with the racism and the tyranny of that time, and some of them ended up in different parts of the world. That’s why my granddad ended up in Africa.

We’ve seen so many films about war, and they all look fantastic and [soldiers] are glorified as heroes. But none of them are really ever people of color, none of them are really ever women. It made me think about how many stories have been erased.

You’ve acted in so many different types of movies and TV shows. What’s the decision-making process like when you’re considering a new project?

“How many days do I get off?” Actually, I guess I’m one of those actors who believe acting is acting. I don’t really have a formula for what to choose. If I resonate with the character, I don’t have a hierarchy. Is the writing good? Is it something I’ve done before? Can I disappear in the role?

What’s the best part of playing a bad guy or a villain?

These people get to say things that we only think in the deepest, darkest recesses of our brains. They say horrible things and scream horrible things and get to be completely socially unacceptable. As an actor, that’s sometimes a gift, sometimes a bit of therapy. These characters tend to be well-written. When you see a really interesting bad guy, you’re going to think about the actor, but think about the writer. It’s the writer who’s dark. You’ve got to give him or her a hug.

Do you have any habits or hobbies your fans don’t know about?

I can do kick-ups with a [soccer] ball, probably about 50 to 60 in a row last time I checked. What else? Probably loads to be honest, because I’m such a curious mind. I’m learning the Unreal Engine [3-D creation technology].

Is there an actor or director you haven’t worked with yet who you’d like to?

Chris Nolan, I’d love to work with him. Denzel [Washington] I’ve worked with, but I’d like to work with him again.

George Miller is known for long and intense shoots. What was it like to work on the set of his movie “Three Thousand Years of Longing”?

We shot it at a time when the rest of the world was at the standstill of Covid. But in the part of the world, in Sydney, they had a very strong hold on Covid. It was really a bizarre, very memorable time. Tilda Swinton is incredible. George is incredible. It’s real escapism, one of the most surprising films for me to ever make.

A clip of you talking to James Corden is featured in the Taylor Swift song “London Boy.” How does it feel to be cemented in her discography, especially after these last few years of her superstardom?

Taylor, that’s my dawg, you know? We’ve worked together a couple times now. She sampled my voice, but I worked with her on a film [“Cats”] as well, and I have a soft spot for Taylor. So shout-out to her.

What’s the secret to a happy marriage?

Communication, honesty, timekeeping.

What’s one piece of advice you’ve gotten that’s guided you?

If you always tell the truth, you’ll never have to lie again.

Appeared in the June 8, 2024, print edition as 'Idris Elba on 4 a.m. Workouts and the Best Part Of Playing a Bad Guy'.