When award-winning actor Idris Elba was asked to bring a dangerously charismatic tiger to life in the reboot of the classic film “The Jungle Book,” he admits that he was a little nervous.
“It’s a real coveted role and I was a little nervous, to be honest, as you can’t beat the classic but I just went for it.”
In “The Jungle Book,” Elba voices Shere Khan, a fearsome predator in the jungle who has an immense dislike for man.
“He is without a doubt the leader of the jungle and is like a terror reign who scares everybody to death,” adds Elba who received a Screen Actors Guild Award for film “Beasts of No Nation.”
Directed by Jon Favreau (“Iron Man”), Disney’s live-action version of their 1967 animated feature is an epic adventure about Mowgli, a boy raised by a family of wolves who finds he is no longer welcome in the jungle. Urged to abandon the only home he’s ever known, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery, guided by a panther and a free-spirited bear.
“My character plays a pivotal role in the film because he is very against there being a man-cub in the jungle. He has a good reason to be,” continues Elba, “because when he was younger, he was scarred by man and fire, so he has fear in his heart and goes on this deadly pursuit to get the man-cub Mowgli out of the jungle.”
Shere Khan’s sheer size makes him an imposing foe for Mowgli and the animals who swear to protect him, namely mother wolf Raksha (Lupita Nyong’o), Bagheera the panther (Ben Kingsley) and Baloo the bear (Bill Murray). What makes him such an impressive specimen, however, is Elba’s steely presence and imposing voice.
“I sculpted what the sound should be,” says the actor. “Bringing my voice to Shere Khan was a process of elimination as stuff that I thought might work didn’t work. So Jon and I sculpted where the sound should be, the timber, the voice, the accent and all of that. It was quite a delicate set of negotiations till we found the right voice.”
Based on Bombay-born, English writer Rudyard Kipling’s timeless stories, “The Jungle Book” is a universal coming-of-age story that everyone can relate to.
Blending live-action performances with stunning CG environments and extraordinary photo-real animal characters, the film serves up a visual feast of talking animals and spectacular scenery. An encyclopedia of wonders, from the dazzling landscape and cinematography there is humor and charm as the films still retains the mythology inherent in Kipling’s original stories.
“The most exciting thing about being part of this project is that both my daughter and son will get to see a classic film with their dad’s voice in a central position,” continues Elba. “This is the best type of family film you can get. It’s a big and glossy version with great performances.”
Elba who also voiced Chief Bogo in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Zootopia,” will next be seen in “Star Trek Beyond” which releases in theaters this summer.
“The Jungle Book” is currently out in theaters
