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Idris Elba failed a chemistry screen test with his own daughter

Isan Elba didn’t talk to her dad for weeks after missing out on a role in ‘Beast’

Jon Hornbuckle
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Jon Hornbuckle
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Idris Elba’s daughter, Isan, auditioned for the role of his daughter in latest flick Beast, but failed to land the job due to a lack of chemistry.

The movie sees Elba’s Dr Nate Daniels visit a South African game reserve with his daughters after the loss of his wife. But what starts as a healing trip soon turns into a nightmare as he fights for their survival from a lion with a vengeance. 

Newcomers Leah Sava Jeffries and Iyana Halley eventually landed the roles of Elba’s two onscreen daughters, despite his real-life daughter going through the intense audition process.

‘Interestingly enough, my daughter auditioned for this role,’ Elba told The Breakfast Club radio show. ‘She wants to be an actress and she auditioned and it came down to chemistry in the end. The relationship in the film and the relationship between my daughter wasn’t right for the film, weirdly enough.’

It was Beast producer Will Packer who had to break the news to Isan that she didn’t get the role, describing her as his ‘little niece’. Packer noted that ‘some of the nuances of that real-life relationship sometimes doesn’t translate on screen’.

Elba confessed that his daughter didn’t talk to him ‘for about three weeks’ after the news.

Beast was released in US cinemas last week, although it took a beating at the box office from Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. It is the first time an anime release has topped US box office charts since Pokémon: the First Movie – Mewtwo Strikes Back in 1999.

The bad news keeps coming for Elba as recent reports suggest he could be out of the running to play James Bond. Producers want an actor in their mid-30s to allow time to keep the role for at least a decade, seemingly ruling out the 49-year-old actor.

Idris Elba is making a bid to buy his own TV channel.

And he’s opening a wine bar, too.

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