IDRIS ELBA: Hello, Jon. What a nice surprise.
JON FAVREAU: Well, I fancy myself the modern-day Andy Warhol, so Interview magazine... How are you doing down there?
ELBA: I'm good. We're making a very big movie, and I'm doing long hours, shooting guns and whatnot. I'm enjoying it.
FAVREAU: When I worked with Daniel Craig [Cowboys & Aliens, 2011], he said that dressing up and playing a cowboy is universal, not just an American fantasy. Is it something that was appealing to you?
ELBA: [laughs] Yeah, I mean, I used to watch Bonanza. Do you even know what that is?
FAVREAU: Yeah. I guess it took a while for our programs to get to you, because that was before my time.
ELBA: [laughs] Bonanza, man. I've always wanted to try the whole cowboy feel and look, so when I took this role, I was wondering, "Are we going to bring that to life in this character? Is he a real cowboy?" And the answer was no. We had to reinvent that a little bit because the world—it's quite a fantastical world and we aren't making a Western. But there's definitely some characteristics from those great cowboy movies, the Sergio Leone movies and all. I was definitely drawn to it. I've got two smoking guns that just look incredible, and I love to pull them out whenever I can. [laughs]
FAVREAU: I remember the books, and what was cool about it was Stephen King really deconstructed the mythology. So you got all the cool gunfighter stuff, but it felt fresh and new and sci-fi, post-apocalyptic—a little bit ahead of its time actually.
ELBA: It's exciting because it doesn't feel like it comes from any other source. It's not an existing group, like the Marvel films. It feels very original. The guns and fights are really essential to the story, but our director, Nikolaj [Arcel], isn't overcooking it.