Idris Elba tackled the power of imagination during a conversation at the inaugural SXSW London on Wednesday, which took place at Truman Brewery in the British capital’s Shoreditch neighborhood.
The actor’s experience with dyslexia, his development work in Africa and his vision to build out the theatrical circuit on the continent were among the various topics he touched on during a wide-ranging discussion, which was dubbed “Creativity as Capital for Change.”
The multi-hyphenate — actor, musician, filmmaker, entrepreneur, philanthropist — was interviewed by British radio broadcaster and TV show host Clara Amfo in a session that easily drew the largest crowd of SXSW London so far, with a line snaking around the block. Joining the star on stage were several of his collaborators, including director Stefan Schwartz (Luther).
A preview of the Elba appearance on the SXSW London website promised that the star would “explore how creative influence can challenge injustice and unlock new economic models.”
Elba shared that he, too, knows what it’s like to despair when watching the news these days. “You know, I think all of us have gone through a stage. We wake up, turn on the news, and it’s despair after despair. It’s bad news after bad news,” he said. “And what’s driving me is the fact that I get to wake up and do something new every day. It’s driving me that I get to do better than yesterday.”
He then explained the title of the session by taking a deeper look at the phrase “money makes the world go round.” “That’s, to some degree, very true,” he declared. “But in my head, it’s my imagination that makes the world go round. So, trying to get young people to understand that their capital, their wealth, their fortune, is within themselves, within that creative tool set, and being able to articulate themselves.”
He then turned his attention to the next generation of creators by encouraging them to appreciate the power of their own creativity. “Part of the reason why I do a little bit of everything, and annoy everyone, is because I just feel it’s better that you illustrate to young people to just try it, just go through it.” He concluded: “Young people don’t realize how expensive their imaginations are, how valuable their imaginations are when they share ideas and they create stuff.”
In an emotional moment, Elba opened up about his dyslexia. “I knew that I find reading scripts very difficult, actually absorbing the words,” he shared. “I didn’t know at the time that I am dyslexic. It became a bit of a hindrance for me. You’re reading a lot of different scripts at the same time, especially through series, we’re reading revisions all the time. And so Stefan and I bonded over this idea that he had: what if we could do it in a different way and help, in an inclusive way, people with dyslexia [and any sort of neurodiversity] to absorb scripts.”
So the two and others developed over the past several years the app Taking Scripts, which a description says allows users to “hear scripts with realistic voices wherever you are, with only the parts you need — no headers or unwanted extras.”
Elsewhere, Elba founded The Akuna Group to drive growth opportunities in Africa with a focus on such sectors as the creative industries, agriculture and infrastructure, “aiming to empower Africa’s growth through innovation and impact.”
The Akuna Wallet in Ghana — which, according to the website, “empowers Ghanaian creators to get paid directly from anyone, anywhere” — is one key service that he said he would like to roll out more widely around the continent and world over time. And Elba shared a vision for making the traditional cinema experience more widely available in Africa. “I want to build the African Odeon,” he said. “There’s a crazy number across the entire continent: [there’s] less than about 3,000 cinemas, actual cinemas that you and I have grown up with. I would love to be able to tackle some of that, because I believe that the cinema experience that we all have gone through should be experienced by a new generation.”
Concluded Elba: “How do I do that? I guess by building a model of data that shows that, actually, you do want to watch films and enjoy the experience of the theater.”
Earlier on Wednesday, SXSW London sessions featured ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus and Letitia Wright, among others.
SXSW London runs through June 7. Penske Media, the parent company of The Hollywood Reporter, is the majority stakeholder of SXSW.