Idris Elba Couldn’t ‘Believe’ He Was Kissing Beyonce in the First 20 Minutes of Meeting Her in $73m Movie

In the 2009 smash blockbuster movie Obsessed, Idris Elba and Beyoncé played a married couple. Elba was eager to collaborate with Beyoncé, given her superstar status!

Elba was nervous, and although their meeting went well enough, it became a little awkward because they had to shoot a kissing scene right away. “It was weird when I met her – within 20 minutes we had to kiss. I wasn’t complaining. It was full on, we had to do these pictures for the wall and it was full-on kissing. I was like, ‘Oh god, I’m kissing Beyoncé, I can’t believe it,’” Elba once said, per Contact Music.

However, not every scene between the two was as enjoyable for Elba to film. The actor adds, “There's a scene where Beyonce goes nuts at me and that was pretty scary.”

For Beyonce, the genre allowed her to communicate her feelings in a way that she couldn't have done in her other movies. In a conversation with Larry King, she once revealed, per Showbiz CheatSheet, “I actually like it a lot more. You know, I still like — it’s easier for me. And I guess it’s because I hold so many things in because I always have to be so professional. And I work very, very hard. So all of those things that — all of the things that I hold in, I’m able to — to let out when I do movies. And it’s really just exhilarating for me to release all of that, you know when I do dramatic roles.”

The Pink Panther actress also acknowledged Idris Elba for helping to make her feel comfortable in her character (in Obsessed), and she had nothing but positive things to say about him. “He’s [Idris Elba] amazing. And, you know, he brought out a lot of wonderful things in my performance. And, you know, he is a student and a great teacher. And we’ve spent a lot of time just with the two of us going back and forth with the script and making adjustments and making it our own, I learned so much working from him.”

Elba had the same high admiration for Beyoncé. “She’s a true professional—a very smart, talented, giving actress. It was a very good experience, and we had a phenomenal time,” he said.

Elba was really enthusiastic about the movie because it focused on an African-American couple's relationship, which greatly appealed to him. “It hasn’t been said yet, and it probably won’t be said because it’s not a part of the film, but there’s an obvious moment of ‘Oh! That’s interesting!’ by way of race, in that there’s an African-American couple in the leading position in a thriller. It’s not mentioned in the film, it’s never an issue, and I think that’s phenomenal,” Elba once said in an interview with Oprah.