STAR TREK BEYOND guest actor Idris Elba has a new interview out today with Entertainment Weekly, where he dives a little bit more into the “groundbreaking” role he’s playing in this summer’s Trek adventure.
Per EW’s interview with the British actor:
He has a real beef with what the Enterprise stands for. Krall’s a character who’s deeply steeped in hatred — in my opinion, a well-earned hatred — for the Federation. It felt quite political. There’s a relatability to what’s happening in our world. Not everybody’s happy with what everybody calls the good guys.
There’s some history that we explore, to understand why he feels the frontier needs to “push back.” There’s definitely an opposing argument to the good that the Federation think they do. There are purists that believe in independence, and believe that we’re all made differently for a reason, and will fight tooth and nail to defend that.
Krall is predatory. He’s not one for big speeches. He is one for going to get what he wants. If that means having to do it himself, outside of his army, he is not afraid to do that.
Elba also talks about his heavy makeup requirements for the alien role, something we first covered back in November:
Typically, my day would start at 4:15 in the morning. I’d be in the chair until around 7:30, shoot about 8:30. Shot ‘til around 9 at night, maybe later. Get home, unwind, get to sleep, and then wake up in the morning and do the whole thing again. It was definitely an extensive process. I learned so much about working with prosthetics, and how that can influence the performance. I’m claustrophobic by the way; I don’t like rubber masks on my face.