Idris Elba Dishes on Filming 'The Suicide Squad': 'I'm Really Excited to be a Part of the Squad' (Exclusive)
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Idris Elba is deep in the middle of filming The Suicide Squad, and the action star is really embracing the experience.
ET's Rachel Smith spoke with the handsome British superstar at the world premiere of his new film, Cats, outside Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City on Monday, and he opened up about his mysterious role in the anti-hero ensemble.
"I'm filming it right now as we speak, so I can't even talk about it, but I'm really excited to be a part of the squad," Elba, 47, shared. "It's a great team."
The film -- which serves as a partial reboot and quasi-sequel to 2016's similarly named Suicide Squad -- is being helmed by Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn. Elba was originally reported to be playing Deadshot, a character originally played by Will Smith, who dropped out of production on the upcoming iteration early on.
However, it's since been reported that Elba is playing an entirely different character, although who it might be has not yet been revealed.
"James Gunn is an incredible director to work with, and the actors are amazing," Elba marveled. "So I'm having a great time."
The Suicide Squad tells the story of a group of imprisoned supervillains who are given the chance at redemption by becoming anti-heros as part of a band of crime fighters seeking clemency. Elba also played the super-powered villain in the recent high-octane blockbuster Hobbs & Shaw, and plays the baddie in Cats, starring as Macavity the Mystery Cat.
"Bad guys are just written better," Elba said of his appreciation for playing villains. "They're just less boring, they get to say all the stuff that's in their head, and then you get to do it with charisma."
"But, you know, this guy, he's not so much as bad, he's just desperate. Macavity has one life left out of all his nine, and he's desperate," Elba explained. "So, you know, [director] Tom Hooper and I, we wanted to bring that out. So he's not just like a bad guy, he's a desperate guy."
For Elba, stepping into a role like Cats is a notable departure from the roles that he's become most famous for -- including the hardened homicide detective in the TV series Luther or the Norse god Heimdall in Marvel Cinematic Universe -- and that's one of the main reasons he signed on.
"I've never done a musical on film. I'm one of these actors that like to do as many different things as I can," Elba shared. "I think that's part of the job… I just wanted to challenge myself and try something different."
Cats leaps into theaters Dec. 20.
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