Idris Elba Told Guillermo Del Toro What He Does When He Doesn’t Know His Lines, And Now I Can’t Unsee It

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Idris Elba and Guillermo del Toro collaborated on the 2013 film Pacific Rim, a story set in the future where pilots control massive robots called Jaegers to fight creatures attacking Earth. (A new show on Amazon will explore this world further.) Recently, del Toro shared a funny detail about what Elba does when he forgets a line, and it’s made me realize I’ll be watching for this little habit in all of Elba’s future performances.

The conversation began during a discussion hosted by The Hollywood Reporter with filmmakers Guillermo del Toro, Bradley Cooper, Clint Bentley, Hikari, Noah Oppenheim, and Will Tracy. All six had films scheduled for release in 2025 that were already generating awards attention, including del Toro’s adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Del Toro asked Oppenheim, the writer of A House of Dynamite, about his experience working with Idris Elba, who played the U.S. President in the Netflix film. Before posing his question, del Toro shared a story:

I worked on a film with Idris Elba, who I think is fantastic. He told me on our first meeting that he doesn’t memorize lines. Instead, he has this technique where, if he’s unsure, he squints – he’s really good at it! It was surprising because his roles often require very accurate delivery.

Guillermo del Toro was curious if Idris Elba used a similar squinting expression in his earlier film, A House of Dynamite. Noah Oppenheim confirmed Elba memorized his lines for that movie, but also added that the actor did some improvising. This makes me want to rewatch A House of Dynamite to see if the squinting is actually there, and also to revisit the film’s controversial ending and see if my opinion has changed.

More about Idris Elba
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It’s hard not to notice Idris Elba squinting in Pacific Rim. As you can see in the screenshot above, he does it quite a bit. This raises the question: was he squinting to hide the fact that he was reading lines from cue cards? Or was he learning his lines gradually, and squinting when he forgot what came next?

I’m curious about this observation, so I might rewatch some of his movies – like Thor, Star Trek Beyond, and The Suicide Squad, and maybe others – to see if I notice it myself. But this won’t change my mind about his talent; I still think he’s one of the best actors working today. He’s already won a Golden Globe and received five other nominations, plus seven Emmy nominations. I’m hoping he’ll eventually be recognized by the Academy Awards as well.

Idris Elba has several upcoming film projects. He’ll play Man-At-Arms in the new Masters of the Universe movie, scheduled for release on June 5, 2026. Following that, he’s set to star in the fantasy film Children of Blood and Bone in early 2027. The release date for his survival thriller, Above the Below, hasn’t been announced yet.

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2026-01-07 17:38