Idris Elba recalls brush with death on 'Beasts of No Nation' set

LONDON, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- British actor Idris Elba says he slipped on a rock and "nearly died" while shooting Beasts of No Nation with director Cary Fukunaga in Ghana.

"I nearly died ... We decided to do this waterfall scene where all these child soldiers were walking behind this massive waterfall," The Guardian quoted Elba as saying on The Jonathan Ross Show.

"Cary Fukunaga, the director, decided to shoot it for real. We went to this waterfall and in this scene my character is standing there watching all the child soldiers go past. Now in the setup of that, the stunt coordinator says, 'Listen everyone, this is a waterfall, that's a 90, 100-foot drop down there and the ground is very slippery, just be careful!'" he recalled.

"I put my foot on this rock just to hang out and chill out while they were setting up and as I'm doing that it's slippery, obviously. I slip ... I put my hand on this tree -- it's not a tree, it's a branch. It snaps and I go literally about six feet before I go bang over and I got caught by the security guy. ... It was a great experience, though, that was my most harrowing [film to shoot]. The director caught malaria and survived and it was great and he kept working so it was that type of shoot."

The film is now streaming on Netflix. Elba, 43, is best known for his work on the TV series Luther and The Wire.