Luther star Idris Elba has revealed how he almost died while shooting a film in Ghana, when he slipped behind a waterfall over a 30-metre drop.  Related: Director Cary Fukunaga: ‘I thought nothing could be as hard as True Detective, but Beasts of No Nation eclipsed it’  The 43-year-old actor – who will reprise his role as the London detective with a blindspot for the rulebook and a Midas-touch love-life in two special episodes in December – admitted he had a lucky escape when his foot slipped off a rock and the branch he held on to snapped.  Recalling the incident while filming the Netflix film Beasts of No Nation, in which he plays the warlord Commandant, Elba told The Jonathan Ross Show: “I nearly died … We decided to do this waterfall scene where all these child soldiers were walking behind this massive waterfall.  “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 co-ordinator says, ‘Listen everyone, this is a waterfall, that’s a 90, 100ft drop down there and the ground is very slippery, just be careful!’  “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.”  Elba continued: “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 on-screen tough guy also revealed his softer side, adding: “I can’t stand seeing children suffer. I watch Toy Story and I start crying so let alone Beasts of No Nation!”  The Hackney-born actor, who found fame in US series The Wire and won a Golden Globe award for his portrayal of the South African leader Nelson Mandela, became a father for the second time to 19-month-old son, Winston.  “He’s a good boy with me [but a] really bad boy with his mum because she spoils him, I don’t,” he told Ross. “I am the tough guy … I am actually a doting father. I pick him up a bit but for some reason he just takes the [mickey] with his mum.”  Elba said balancing his hectic work schedule with fatherhood can be tough. “Most times, if I can, I’ll bring my family with and we’ll just sort of live but that’s really tough because I do long hours and I never see them and I’m always grumpy so there’s no point. It is tough, you’ve just got to spread it out a bit,” he said.  DCI John Luther’s return to BBC1 in series four of the crime drama will be shown in two parts on 15 and 22 December.
Luther star says security guard saved his life after he slipped while walking behind a waterfall over 30-metre drop during filming for Beasts of No Nation