Idris Elba Talks ‘Pacific Rim,’ Guillermo Del Toro

Idris Elba apparently had a blast helping Guillermo del Toro bring Pacific Rim to life.

The Luther star plays one of the main characters in the Blade II director’s upcoming giant robots vs. enormous monsters movie. Elba, who said he has a “young imagination,” practically jumped at the chance to work with the acclaimed filmmaker.

According to Moviefone, Idris Elba enjoys working with directors who know how to bring their imaginations to life. The actor said del Toro was easily one of his “favorite nerds in the world.”

Although the director gave his cast sketches and descriptions of the monsters and robots featured in Pacific Rim, they never saw any of them on-set. Elba said he was simply stunned when he witnessed the finished product on the big screen for the very first time.

“The detailing. The detailing was incredible. If I wasn’t in this movie but I was going to take my daughter to see it and spent at least 50, 60 bucks on two tickets and Coke or whatever, I would walk into the movie and say that was money well spent. Because these guys did not leave one stone unturned,” the actor explained.

He added, “It was like watching “Blade Runner” or “Star Wars” for the first time. Who thinks this stuff up? And where did they get a C-3PO? Where do they get one of these things? For me it was like the value for money in terms of filmmaking.”

Although Idris Elba is understandably excited about the release of Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim, he told Entertainment Weekly that he’s really hoping his BBC series Luther gets the big-screen treatment.

“It’s our engine at the moment. [Creator] Neil [Cross] wants to make it and so do I, and we are hopefully making steps towards that. It’s a long process. I think we probably go back to the beginning and start from an origin story,” the actor said.

Are you a fan of Idris Elba? Are you planning to catch Pacific Rim when it lands in theaters on Friday?

[Image via Warner Bros. / Legendary Pictures]