‘Star Trek Beyond’ Will Show Idris Elba Like You’ve Never Seen Him Before
Idris Elba will be playing a villain in Star Trek Beyond.
In an interview with MTV News, Idris Elba said he has never had a role similar to his Star Trek Beyond character.
Idris Elba Promises ‘Groundbreaking’ Villain In ‘Star Trek Beyond’ http://t.co/hrKTlXlSCO
— MTV News (@MTVNews) September 26, 2015
“Simon [Pegg] and the team have written a very interesting, complex journey for my character. You’ve never seen me play a character like this,” he said. Elba also confirmed that his character would be completely original. He elaborated.
“I think Star Trek has prided themselves as being quite classic when it comes to villains, like ‘he’s a guy who wants to end the world,’ there’s no doubt about that. But in this version of the film, there’s a slightly different twist to that.”
Elba said that in the film, his character will have an “interesting journey” that would be “groundbreaking” for the franchise but was quick to add that Pegg and his team wrote it in a way that the plot stays faithful to the usual “classic bad guy is a classic bad guy tone.”
Fans of the franchise have been speculating about Elba’s mysterious character, and many believe that he will be playing a Klingon. Pegg, however, dispelled the rumors and implied that Elba’s Star Trek Beyond character may be of a different species.
In an interview with Absolute Radio, Pegg was asked if there’s truth to the rumors that Idris Elba will be playing a Klingon. The actor replied, “That’s not true.”
Simon Pegg and Bad Robot Production’s Doug Dorst were brought in to re-write the script to Star Trek Beyond after the movie’s original director/writer Roberto Orci parted ways with the project last year. Pegg will still be appearing in the film as Scotty.
What Simon Pegg said about Idris Elba’s character in Star Trek Beyond is generating more curiosity and questions. Fans are wondering which character the Luther actor will be playing; since Klingons are the villains in the movie and he’s allegedly not playing a Klingon, why would his character want to end the world? Another question that comes to mind is why is he at odds with the Enterprise?
Star Trek Beyond director Justin Lin also said that the film will be “all new and fresh.” In an interview with Deadline, Lin said: “The Klingons, Romulans, and other species are great, but it’s time to go further. It has been fun to focus on creating whole new worlds and species.” Lin also took to his Twitter account to post a photo of a Star Trek uniform with the caption: “Let the next voyage begin!” using the hashtag #StarTrekBeyond.
Let the next Starfleet voyage begin! #StarTrekBeyond #LLAP pic.twitter.com/VZh9YvJgqA — Justin Lin (@trailingjohnson) June 29, 2015
Elba told MTV News that he’s been working long hours on the set of Star Trek Beyond and describes this new role as “tough work.”
“It’s been hard work,” the actor said. I’ve been doing 18-hour days. It’s tough work, but I’m looking forward to people seeing this film.”
Just recently, it was announced that the film’s release date next year would be pushed back for a few weeks. So instead of July 8th, fans will be able to watch it two weeks later on July 22, 2016.
Idris Elba’s casting in the Star Trek: Into Darkness sequel was announced in July. He was officially introduced during a promotional video the cast was making for a charity contest. In the video, the cast members were encouraging fans to donate $10 to their charity initiative when Elba casually walked in, to which Chris Pine says, “Idris, glad you could join us.”
Elba even showed off his impressive breakdancing skills at the end of the clip.
In Star Trek Beyond, Idris Elba will be joining Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Cho, Karl Urban and Peter Weller.
[Images via Ben A. Pruchnie, Getty Images]
