Idris Elba (Extended)

Summary

The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert: Extended Episode Featuring Idris Elba

Release Date: June 28, 2025

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Introduction

In this extended episode of The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert, host Stephen Colbert welcomes acclaimed actor Idris Elba for an engaging and multifaceted conversation. Skipping the usual advertisements and introductory segments, the episode dives straight into discussions about Idris’s latest projects, his collaboration with John Cena, his passion for DJing, and his visionary aspirations for the African film industry.

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Idris Elba’s Latest Film: Heads of State

Stephen Colbert opens the conversation by introducing Idris Elba's new film, Heads of State. The film, described as an action thriller and buddy comedy, stars Idris alongside the Prime Minister of the UK in a globe-trotting espionage plot.

Stephen Colbert [03:28]: "The new film. We just saw the clip there. Head. It looks silly. It looks fun. I imagine there's also a fair amount of adventure in it too. Some good fights. Good fights."

Idris Elba [03:31]: "Okay. It's about the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of the UK... and they have to find a way to work together to get to the end of the movie."

The duo discuss the film’s premise and the delightful chemistry between Idris and his co-star, John Cena, referencing their previous collaboration in Suicide Squad. Idris highlights how their on-screen rivalry evolved into a recurring franchise.

Idris Elba [04:44]: "We had this amazing chemistry that neither of us thought was gonna happen. And James Gunn saw it and made it happen."

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Collaboration with John Cena

A significant portion of the conversation centers around Idris’s dynamic with John Cena. Stephen playfully probes Idris about their relationship, leading to humorous exchanges about who would win in a fight.

Stephen Colbert [05:56]: "Who would win in a fight between you and John Cena?"

Idris Elba [06:00]: "In a real fight? John Cena, I would kick his ass. Yeah, but... we have a lot of brotherly love for each other."

They share anecdotes about Cena's multifaceted personality, including his classical piano skills and fluency in Mandarin, juxtaposed with his wrestling persona.

Idris Elba [07:12]: "He also speaks Mandarin. Fluently."

Stephen Colbert [07:10]: "He has a piano off set just to play when he's."

The camaraderie between the two actors is evident, emphasizing a blend of professionalism and genuine friendship.

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Stunt Work and On-Set Dynamics

Stephen delves into the practical aspects of Idris's work, particularly his approach to stunts and action sequences. Idris explains that while he performs many of his own stunts, he relies on his stunt double, Tom Billings, for more complex maneuvers.

Idris Elba [07:19]: "Yeah, I mean, a lot. I do a lot of fighting, that stuff... my stunt guy is a guy called Tom Billings."

Stephen humorously suggests scenarios where scripts are seemingly written for the stunt double rather than Idris himself.

Stephen Colbert [05:10]: "Does he have a wrestling ring...can he jump into the set or come off the ring."

Idris Elba [05:17]: "Yeah, so he can jump into the set. I don't do that. I just walk on. I'm really stubbed up."

Their lighthearted banter highlights the behind-the-scenes dynamics of film production and stunts.

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Vision for the African Odeon and Cinematic Diversity

Transitioning from Hollywood to global cinema, Idris shares his ambition to create the African Odeon, a movie theater chain aimed at revolutionizing film distribution across Africa. He emphasizes the diversity and rich cultural heritage of the African continent, advocating for a more nuanced and varied cinematic experience beyond the limited narratives currently prevalent.

Idris Elba [08:17]: "Would you try that?"

Stephen Colbert [08:33]: "Has this wide distribution doesn't exist."

Idris Elba [09:48]: "Africa is not a monolith. It's an incredible array of countries. There are more than 2,000 languages... I'm always excited about trying to build a different narrative."

Idris reflects on his first experience in Africa while filming Sometimes in April in Rwanda, underscoring the profound impact it had on his worldview and his commitment to fostering a diverse cinematic landscape.

Idris Elba [09:16]: "It's a very tough story, but it was amazing."

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Passion for DJing and Music

Beyond acting, Idris reveals his deep-seated passion for DJing. He discusses his experience performing at Coachella, articulating the DJ’s role in creating unified, spiritual experiences through music.

Stephen Colbert [10:26]: "You DJ'd at Coachella. This year, educate to me what the role of a DJ. What is the job and why do you love it?"

Idris Elba [10:35]: "A DJ has to find a way to unify everyone with some beats and a selection of beats... it was Coachella. I did it with the amazing DJ Cascade and we had amazing back to back. It was incredible."

Stephen humorously speculates on Idris’s future should acting not remain his primary pursuit, with Idris confidently affirming his commitment to DJing.

Idris Elba [11:20]: "I'd like. If the DJing doesn't work, I want to try some, you know, nighttime TV anytime."

Their exchange underscores Idris’s versatility and passion for the arts beyond acting.

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Personal Reflections and Background

The conversation touches upon Idris’s personal journey, including his early aspirations sparked by visits to cinemas in East London and his first experiences filming in Africa. These reflections provide listeners with a deeper understanding of Idris’s motivations and the cultural influences that shape his work.

Idris Elba [09:36]: "The first time I went to the cinema... I watched Spider man, the TV show in a cinema... that's where I learned that I wanted to be an actor for sure."

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Closing Remarks

As the episode draws to a close, Idris Elba promotes his upcoming film, Heads of State, set to be available on Prime Video starting July 3rd. Stephen extends his gratitude to Idris for joining the show and invites listeners to explore more content on The Late Show YouTube channel.

Stephen Colbert [11:36]: "Heads of State is available on Prime Video July 3rd. Idris Elba, everybody. Thank you, Idris."

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Conclusion

This extended episode of The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert offers an insightful and entertaining glimpse into Idris Elba’s multifaceted career and personal passions. From blockbuster films and dynamic collaborations to entrepreneurial ventures and artistic pursuits, Idris Elba shares his experiences and aspirations with charm and candor, making for a compelling listen for both longtime fans and new listeners alike.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Stephen Colbert [05:56]: "Who would win in a fight between you and John Cena?"
• Idris Elba [06:00]: "In a real fight? John Cena, I would kick his ass."
• Idris Elba [08:17]: "Would you try that?"
• Idris Elba [10:35]: "A DJ has to find a way to unify everyone with some beats and a selection of beats."

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For more episodes and exclusive content, visit The Late Show YouTube Channel.

Transcript

[Stephen Colbert]

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[Nicole Byer]

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[Stephen Colbert]

Welcome back, everybody. Thanks. Ladies and gentlemen, Ladies and gentlemen. You know, my first guest tonight as an actor in the Wire, Beasts of no Nation and Hijack. He now stars in Heads of State.

[Idris Elba]

You all right back there, Derringer? Fine. Hearing a lot of panting and snuffling. I don't snuffle, okay? Besides, don't concern yourself with how another man breathes. Boundaries, guy. Nothing to be embarrassed about. Endurance is tough for guys like you. Guys like me? Guys like you? You know Jim Strong. Jim Strong. Jim Strong. As opposed to strong Strong. You want to see Jim Strong? I'll rip a tree out of the ground and beat you to death with it.

[Nicole Byer]

Huh?

[Idris Elba]

Go on then. What? Rip that tree out and beat me to death of it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Please welcome back to the Late Show, Idris Elba. I like the glasses.

[Idris Elba]

You like the glasses.

[Stephen Colbert]

I like the sunglasses.

[Idris Elba]

Should I keep them on?

[Stephen Colbert]

You can just keep them on the whole time if you want. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. It's like we're playing poker. Together.

[Idris Elba]

You know what? This is good. I know what you're gonna say.

[Stephen Colbert]

What am I gonna say?

[Idris Elba]

You're gonna say, idris, why are you wearing a sweater?

[Stephen Colbert]

I was wondering if you were like, you know, steaming a couple loaves of bread in there because this is the hottest day of the year so far. You've got a thirsty roll neck sweater on.

[Idris Elba]

Uh, you know what it is when you're this cool?

[Stephen Colbert]

The new. The new film. We just saw the clip there. Head. It looks silly. It looks fun. I imagine there's also a fair amount of adventure in it too. Some good fights. Good fights.

[Idris Elba]

Great fights.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay, so tell the people exactly what the conceit is here.

[Idris Elba]

Okay. It's about the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of the of UK Yes. Find themselves embroiled in a worldwide espionage thing. That means that they become a target. They find themselves in Air Force One, find themselves being targeted. And they have to find a way to work together to get to the end of the movie.

[Stephen Colbert]

So it's an action thriller, buddy comedy with the President and the Prime Minister.

[Idris Elba]

Absolutely.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay. Absolutely ridiculous. And I can't wait. I mean, you know, reunited you with the Suicide Squad co star, John Cena.

[Idris Elba]

John Cena.

[Stephen Colbert]

There you go. What's it like? What's. I love talking to him. He's actually on tomorrow night if you've got any things I should ask him. Yeah, just like, what's it like backstage?

[Idris Elba]

You should ask him why he's so boring. Right.

[Stephen Colbert]

First of all, write some of this down.

[Idris Elba]

Write it down, write it down. Why so boring? Can you have some fun? You know? Listen, honestly though, seriously, like, when we did Suicide Squad together, I was such a fan of John Cena. I still am, but we had this amazing chemistry that neither of us thought was gonna happen. And James Gunn saw it and made it happen.

[Stephen Colbert]

You're nemesis to each other.

[Idris Elba]

Exactly, exactly. And so we bottled that up and became this little franchise thing. And now we have another movie and we're doing the same. Same, but different. You know, President, prime Minister.

[Stephen Colbert]

For movies like this, which are big action movies, do you have a big writer? Like, do you have like a totally tricked out trailer and stuff like that?

[Idris Elba]

No.

[Stephen Colbert]

Does he? Does he?

[Idris Elba]

Yeah, no, he prima donna. Yeah, yeah. It's like a double decker thing.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, really?

[Idris Elba]

Yeah. And he has like a wrestling ring.

[Stephen Colbert]

Up top so he can come off there or come off the ring.

[Idris Elba]

Yeah, so he can jump into the set. I don't do that. I just walk on. I'm really stubbed up. I Just like a little red carpet.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's all he was. The man is a professional wrestler. Here we go. There's a little. There's a little John Cena. There's a little action right there. But here's something that I did not know, and the audience may not know about it, is that you trained as a mixed martial artist and a kickboxer.

[Idris Elba]

I mean.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay, so we got. Hold on, we got Jim. Before we do this. Okay, who. I want. I want. I want. I want you to answer this honestly. Who would win in a fight.

[Idris Elba]

What?

[Stephen Colbert]

Who would win in a fight between you and John Cena?

[Idris Elba]

In a real fight? In a real fight, John Cena, I would kick his ass. Yeah, but look, Jon and I are never gonna fight in real life. No. We have a lot of brotherly love for each other.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, you might fight. After he finds out that you said you could kick his ass. That might actually do it. Yeah, I agree with you, by the way.

[Idris Elba]

John is very. He's quite a serious guy for all the sort of theatrics he does.

[Stephen Colbert]

Lovely fellow.

[Idris Elba]

Yeah, yeah. But you know me, I'm not so silly. I'm more goofy like you.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, sure. Proudly so.

[Idris Elba]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

But you seem like a serious guy and he seems silly.

[Idris Elba]

Exactly. This is the thing, right? I turn up on set, I'm like, john Cena.

[Stephen Colbert]

And.

[Idris Elba]

And John Cena, he's like, hey, Idris, how are you? Nice to meet you. I'm just gonna go learn some classical piano. I'll be back.

[Stephen Colbert]

I heard that he plays classical piano.

[Idris Elba]

Yes, he does.

[Stephen Colbert]

Does he have a piano off set just to play when he's.

[Idris Elba]

Oh, yes. In his trailer, he has a grand piano.

[Stephen Colbert]

You're kidding.

[Idris Elba]

In his double decker trailer with the white wrestling ring.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow.

[Idris Elba]

He also speaks Mandarin. Fluently.

[Stephen Colbert]

I know, I saw that. These films. Has a lot of stunts. Do you do your own stunts?

[Idris Elba]

Yeah, I mean, a lot. I do a lot of fighting, that stuff, you know, I don't jump out of buildings or, you know, cling to planes like Tom Cruise or anything like that.

[Stephen Colbert]

Right, right. So who does your stunts? Tom Cruise?

[Idris Elba]

Weirdly enough, my stunt guy is a guy called Tom Billings, and he's my stuntman. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's younger, long time, better looking. Yeah. Annoying. Just annoying.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. Do you ever read a script and you go, that one's for Tom.

[Idris Elba]

Tom. Yeah. Except for the fighting. I love to fight. Does anyone like to fight? Okay, maybe just me, but, you know, I like. I like that action.

[Stephen Colbert]

Me, too. I love to scrap it up. Yeah. When the cameras go off. I usually take a couple pokes at my.

[Idris Elba]

Oh, yeah, I don't want no smoke, bro.

[Stephen Colbert]

No, no, you're cool.

[Idris Elba]

Okay.

[Stephen Colbert]

You. You. You've made headlines recently by talking about wanting to create the African Odeon. And. You mean, like, movie theater chain Odeon?

[Idris Elba]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Why? Why Africa? What, do you not have movie theaters there?

[Idris Elba]

They do. I mean, in many countries in Africa, there's movie theaters, but the chain that has that monoculture of, like, one great film going out to many people that doesn't quite exist.

[Stephen Colbert]

So that wide distribution doesn't exist.

[Idris Elba]

Exactly.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay.

[Idris Elba]

Yeah. Would you try that?

[Stephen Colbert]

Do you remember the first movie you saw, like, your first experience?

[Idris Elba]

The first time I went to the cinema was I did. I watched Spider man, the TV show in a cinema. Yeah. This is in East London in this really amazing cinema called the Rio, and it's in Hackney. Anyone been to East London? And the Rio is very famous. It's beautiful. But in there, they used to have these matinee shows.

[Stephen Colbert]

Of kids.

[Idris Elba]

Yeah, of kids. And that's where I learned that I wanted to be an actor for sure.

[Stephen Colbert]

Just welcome back. I want to. I want to. I want to Webs.

[Idris Elba]

I want to climb up the walls or crawl all on the floor. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

So. So you're. You're born in London. When did you first visit Africa?

[Idris Elba]

First time was with a film, actually, it was Rwanda. It was probably in, like, 2007 or so. I made a film called Sometimes in April, and it was my first time there making a film. It was a very tough film. It's a very tough story, but it was amazing. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

What's your experience? Been on the continent so far? Cause it's huge. It's multivarious. There's an enormous diversity of culture on something that in the United States, people from here just sort of vaguely think of Africa often.

[Idris Elba]

You know, Africa is not a monolith. It's an incredible array of countries. There are more than 2,000 languages. And every time I've been there, I've just been, you know, so educated. The narrative that gets to the rest of the world about Africa is always through a certain prism. And I'm always surprised there. So I'm really excited about, you know, trying to build a different narrative.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, here's something else that you're building in your life. I love this photo.

[Idris Elba]

Thank you.

[Stephen Colbert]

I love this. I did not know this about the. You take. You're a DJ in a very serious way, right? This is you at Coachella.

[Idris Elba]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

You DJ'd at Coachella. This year, educate to me what the role of a dj. What is the job and why do you love it?

[Idris Elba]

The role of a dj. Okay, you know, like there's how many people in here? Maybe 450, 4, 50. You know, this. Okay. And to play one song to get everyone to vibe to is a moment of, you know, unified spirituality. Not to get crazy about it, but that's what a DJ's job like the bands, right? They have to make a song that everyone can vibe to. And like, you have to tell a joke that most people find funny.

[Stephen Colbert]

Agreed.

[Idris Elba]

No, I don't want to smoke with you, man.

[Stephen Colbert]

No, most don't. Yeah, yeah.

[Idris Elba]

But a DJ has to find a way to unify everyone with some beats and a selection of beats. And that was Coachella. I did it with the amazing DJ Cascade and we had amazing back to back. It was incredible.

[Stephen Colbert]

So if this whole acting thing goes away, is that what you're going to do?

[Idris Elba]

100%. 100%. Oh, thank you.

[Stephen Colbert]

Like the series?

[Idris Elba]

I'd like. If the DJing doesn't work, I want to try some, you know, nighttime TV anytime.

[Stephen Colbert]

Just keep that spider hand, Pete. I'm doing well. I'm doing well. Heads of State is available on Prime Video July 3rd. Idris Elba, everybody. Thank you, Idris. Thank you for listening to the Late Show Pod show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives.

[Nicole Byer]

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[Stephen Colbert]

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How you doing?

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