‘I’M SO PROUD OF WHERE I CAME FROM’
Idris Elba tells us about his Hackney roots, the new series of his comedy In The Long Run and the future of scary cop show Luther
Like most people, we have a long-standing appreciation for Idris Elba, so when we were offered the chance to tune into a live Youtube chat with the man himself, it was a no brainer.
We logged on to find the gorgeous actor being his usual charming self, waxing lyrical about the third series of In The Long Run, the semi-autobiographical comedy written by and starring Idris, about a West African family making their way in 80s England.
The hilarious show follows Walter (Elba) and his brood – wife Agnes, younger brother Valentine, son Kobna and their Hackney community (including Bill Bailey as neighbour Bagpipes) – as they navigate the era that fashion seemingly forgot.
With the show returning this month, Idris, 47, gives us the lowdown on which plotline was inspired by his beloved mother Eve, his own childhood in east London, and the future of his other iconic – and terrifying – TV show Luther…
Hi Idris! What can we expect from In The Long Run this time round?
We expand the story, we get into the characters a bit and we get into their world some more. Plus, we get into Kobna’s childhood as a little lad. I’m really excited for people who like the show to get to know the characters a bit more. What do you hope people will take away from it?
It’s entertainment, it’s escapism and it’s reminiscent of a certain time. The 80s was a very shapeshifting decade in England and I want viewers to be able to watch the show and relate back to that time. It’s like a museum piece – it’s got the costumes, the hairstyles, it’s got the cultures, it’s got the cars, it’s got Bill Bailey… what else do you want?
Do you reckon you’ve discovered the secret to making a good comedy?
I can’t tell you what makes a good comedy, but I do know that telling the truth about your experiences and finding the funny side of things you’ve been through tends to make really good comedy because people can go, “Ah, that happened to me,” or “That’s funny because I can relate to it.”
Did you set out to make a comedy series or did it just happen naturally?
If I’m honest, I wanted to do a comedy but I didn’t set out to do a comedy. I set out to tell a story of a portion of my life, which, when I look back at it, I laugh my head off thinking about.
The people that I met, the people who inspired me, the area we grew up in. I’m so proud to come from Hackney, on a council estate. The mad diversity inspired me as a kid, and this show wasn’t designed to poke fun at that. It was definitely designed to just be like, “Look at life, this is what life can offer you. Look at the funny side of it.”
This series sees the arrival of Walter’s mum from Sierra Leone – how does he react to that?
It’s a big deal for Walter’s mum to come over from Africa. Mind you, she has been writing to him every week, so her expectations of what she’s about to come and see in London are somewhat diminished a little bit.
One of those expectations is thinking that Walter is religious like herself. But that’s definitely not the case, is it?
It’s certainly not. This is really based on my own mum who’s a Roman Catholic. She’s been going to church all her life, but she couldn’t quite convert me and my dad. He didn’t like going to church and he was sort of dragged there by his hair! We expanded that story a little bit for the show. Of course, Walter wants to make good, he wants Mummy to know that he’s a good lad who’s made it in London, so he pretends to be very religious. Then his mum says, “Great, you can take a sermon then!” Instead of saying, “Ah no,” he decides to do a sermon and as you can imagine, it’s a comedy of errors. It was a fun scene to shoot and we had a laugh doing it. All I can say is Walter gets Madonna confused with Maradona. Which is awkward.
We can’t let you go without talking about Luther! Can we expect another series soon?
There isn’t a real formal plan for Luther, but I’ve made it very clear that I’d like to see it come back as a film, so I can tell you this – we are this close to making a film for Luther!
In The Long Run returns to Sky One on 22 July. Series 1, 2 and the Christmas special are available to watch on Sky and NOW TV