Idris Elba talks about the time he almost died on set

43-year-old actor and father of two recounted the
time he nearly died while filming Beasts Of No
Nation on location in Africa. Appearing on the
Jonathan Ross Show, he spoke of how he slipped
six feet down a waterfall.
He explained: 'We decided to do this waterfall
scene where all these child soldiers were walking
behind this massive waterfall. In Hollywood you
would have just filmed a bit of water coming
down and just shot people’s closeups but Cary
Fukunaga, the director, decided to shoot it for
real.'
The Luther star admitted he was quite relaxed at
the top of the waterfall, falsely believing he was
safe as he waited for the crew to set up for the
scene.
He said: 'The stunt co-ordinator says, "Listen
everyone this is a waterfall, that’s a 90, 100 foot
drop down there and the ground is very slippery,
just be careful!"
'I put my foot on this rock just to hang out and
chill out while they were setting up and as I’m
doing that it’s slippery, obviously. I slip [and
think] I’ll be alright, I put my hand on this tree...
it’s not a tree it’s a branch!
'It snaps and I go literally about six feet before I
go bang over and I got caught by the security
guy!'
After Jonathan declared he could have fallen to
his death, Idris joked: 'Yes! Today’s news, Idris
Elba dies by a waterfall.'
He also revealed the director caught malaria
during the shoot but thankfully, he survived.