Idris Elba Was 'Super Conscious' as British Actor Playing a U.S. President in "A House of Dynamite" (Exclusive) Tommy McArdle, Julia MooreSeptember 30, 2025 at 4:34 AM 0 Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Idris Elba on Sept.
- - Idris Elba Was 'Super Conscious' as British Actor Playing a U.S. President in "A House of Dynamite" (Exclusive)
Tommy McArdle, Julia MooreSeptember 30, 2025 at 4:34 AM
0
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
Idris Elba on Sept. 28, 2025 -
At the New York Film Festival, Idris Elba said he was "super conscious" of his British heritage while portraying an American president in A House of Dynamite
"My granddad's American and I was raised in America for a long time, so I kind of got over it," the actor adds
A House of Dynamite is in theaters Oct. 10, then streaming on Netflix Oct. 24
Idris Elba is sharing his approach to portraying the president of the United States on the big screen as a British actor.
"I was super conscious of it," Elba, 53, tells PEOPLE at the New York Film Festival premiere of A House of Dynamite on Sunday, Sept. 28. "But you know … my granddad's American and I was raised in America for a long time, so I kind of got over it."
A House of Dynamite follows Idris' president and other members of the U.S. government in the hours after a nuclear missile is launched over the Pacific Ocean.
"Playing the president was a challenge, but I'm hoping that ... I wanted to bring a human side to this character, and I hope the audience enjoy that," Elba adds.
The ensemble cast also includes Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Moses Ingram, Jonah Hauer-King, Greta Lee and Jason Clarke. The movie is Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow's first film since 2017's Detroit.
"Bucket list. Working with Kathryn was something that I always wanted to do," Elba says. "I'm a big admirer of her films. But the truth is, we got to make a really important film. A film that's going to highlight, I guess, the fragility of our world and who we are as people."
John Nacion/Variety via Getty
Idris Elba on Sept. 28, 2025
A House of Dynamite is the second consecutive film in which Elba plays a major political figure. The actor costarred with John Cena in a Prime Video action-comedy titled Heads of State, which released in July.
In that, Elba portrayed the U.K. prime minister, while Cena, 48, played the American president, as they take on hostile forces when their plane to a joint diplomatic trip is attacked.
A House of Dynamite is written by Noah Oppenheim, former president of NBC News.
Bigelow, 73, said she wanted to "explore the madness of a world that lives under the constant shadow of annihilation, yet rarely speaks of it," in a statement shared with the Venice International Film Festival, where the movie had its world premiere Sept. 2.
— sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
"When a single, unattributed missile is launched at the United States," reads a synopsis for the film, "a race begins to determine who is responsible and how to respond."
A House of Dynamite is in theaters Oct. 10, then streaming on Netflix Oct. 24.
on People
Source: "AOL AOL Entertainment"
Source: GL MAG
Full Article on Source: GL MAG
#LALifestyle #USCelebrities