Throughout his career, Idris Elba has become one of the most esteemed actors in the business
thanks to his distinguished good looks, his natural air of authenticity and charm,
and his commitment to weaving the full fabric of his characters in his performances. And
his ability to master his character's accents is truly out of this world.
"Well if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with, love the one you're with."
That talent has come in handy yet again with his latest role in Concrete Cowboy. The film is based
upon the real-life community of city riders in Philadelphia, and Elba spent some quality time in
the City of Brotherly Love training on horseback and learning to speak with a local accent.
"We gonna do what we always do. We gonna ride."
The movie was also shot on location in the city
and features some real-life riders from the region, so Elba had everything he
needed to put on yet another master class in local linguistics for Concrete Cowboy.
Before the film arrives on Friday, April 2, here's a look back at some
of the other times Idris Elba showed off his incredible knack for accents.
"Yeah, make them feel something. That's what I do."
Idris Elba has often been teased on talk shows about the first time he used an
American accent on-screen, which happened on the mid-'90s British series Space Precinct.
Elba appeared as an astronaut pizza delivery guy with a country western twang.
"Hot delivery, anywhere on Altor, guaranteed."
According to Elba, his own attempt at the accent from the shoot was apparently so bad that his
dialogue was dubbed over with a voice actor. Luckily, the experience didn't crash his career.
Elba worked hard to hone his American accent skills by moving to New York.
His skills with the dialect soon became so strong that he managed to fool millions of adoring fans
into thinking that he was actually from the United States with his career-changing role
as the smooth criminal Russell "Stringer" Bell in the celebrated crime-drama series The Wire.
"Naw, man, we done worrying about territory, man, what corner we got, what project…
game ain't about that no more. It's about product."
Elba's impressive American accent has continued to come in handy in many of his other standout
screen appearances, including his turns in American Gangster, Obsessed, and Molly's Game.
"I read them too. I read about your indictment after I got your call last night and I bought your
book. I'm only on page 112, but Molly, did you commit a felony and then write a book about it?"
According to writer-director Aaron Sorkin, Elba's secret to keeping his
adopted accent so on point in his movies is that throughout the production process,
even on his breaks from shooting, Elba stays in character - vocally, at least.
Though Idris Elba grew up in London, his father was from Sierra Leone and his mother is
originally from Ghana. Elba's turn as the South African president Nelson Mandela in Mandela:
Long Walk to Freedom was partially inspired by his own dad's countenance.
"My Lord, it is not I but the government that should be put in the dock. I plead not guilty."
For the actor, mastering the accent of Nelson Mandela - whose native language
was Xhosa - was an intimidating task, but Elba told NPR it was helpful to grow up
listening to his parents' own West African cadence, which he used as a foundation while
studying Mandela's inflections for the role. Elba explained that the real "magic" happened
when he finally got to stand before the extras in South Africa and see the crowd absorbing the
authenticity of his accent as he delivered some of Mandela's most inspiring words.
"There comes a time in the life of every nation when there remains two choices: Submit,
or fight."
Elba went on to channel his parents' past for his breathtaking portrayal
of the sinister Commandant in Beasts of No Nation,
which centers on a boy becoming a child soldier in a war-torn West African country.
"So when you are chopping wood, lift up high. Up.
High. Uh-huh. Then when you are ready you come down so. Well, well, into the flesh."
The actor told the New Zealand Herald that the film's setting was particularly important to him,
since his parents grew up in similarly distressed countries,
and he adopted a Sierra Leonean accent with a hint of Nigerian.
"Coming from a sort of West African heritage, I sort of get frustrated sometimes at the sort of
2D, sort of stereotypical African characters we see on some films,
especially when it comes to some sort of a dictator."
"All of you that have never been listened to before and have seen your family killed,
you now have something that stands for you. You now have something that stands for you."
In addition to locking down accents from around the globe, Elba has also gotten the opportunity to
create his own character sounds in recent years, including for his role as Krall in 2016's Star
Trek Beyond. The actor found the deep tones to be challenging, but the voice was also helpful
to him in crafting his villainous presence and making the role something all-new for himself.
"I am counting on it, Lieutenant Uhura."
Similarly, Elba got to use his imagination while bringing the
character of Roland to the silver screen in the 2017 adaptation of
The Dark Tower. Elba was the first actor to ever portray the iconic character on-screen,
so he got to craft what he sounds like. Elba explained to Entertainment Weekly that
they settled on an "old-worldly, formal, flat American" dialect for the character.
"I do not aim with my hand. He who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I aim with my eye."
In addition to his impressive American, African, and even alien dialects,
Elba has continued to expand his accent portfolio in films and television. For example, audiences
can hear how easily he masters a French-Algerian accent in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
"Zarathos was an angel. A spirit of justice."
He's even gotten the chance to give his own English vocals a
more formal vibe in films like Pacific Rim.
"Today we face the monsters that are at our door and bring the fight to them.
Today we are canceling the apocalypse."
But fans can also find plenty of examples of Elba's natural
English sound throughout his filmography. Most memorably,
Elba returned to his organic accent for his Golden Globe-winning role in Luther.
"You're back, if you want it."
"I want it."
Perhaps surprisingly, Elba said he found it "odd" to finally return to his own tongue
for the television role after spending so many years portraying Americans and living among them.
However, as with all of his other roles, he has well-proven that no
matter where his characters are from, he will not only master the accent,
but he'll also make you forget all about them with the sheer power of his screen presence.
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