Idris Elba on Playing an ‘Unusual Hero’ in ‘Hijack’ and a Potential Season 2: ‘I’m Open to It’

Idris Elbas new Apple TV+ series Hijack sees him star as Sam Nelson, a top corporate negotiator who finds himself in the eye of a storm when the plane he is flying on is hijacked by a gang of ruthless criminals.

Elba also exec produces the show, which launches on June 28, under his Green Door production banner. The project is a result of the actors first-look deal with Apple, which was announced in 2020. Sitting down with Variety in London ahead of the shows launch, Elba said the deal has since expired but hes already in talks to work with streamer again including a potential return outing as Nelson.

I love Apple and we love each other and I think were gonna work together again, but were just not currently in a set up as official, Elba says. Its nice having a production deal but theres restrictions. And I feel like my career as an actor has been so random and different why change now?

Elbas career both on and off screen has undoubtedly been unique. As well as acting, directing and producing, he also has a side-gig as a superstar DJ (he played Coachella earlier this year) and, after considering a bid for U.K. public service broadcaster Channel 4, recently invested in a marketing agency. Is there anything he hasnt tried does he own a sports team, for example? Well actually, not one I have announced, he replies cryptically.

Ive definitely got a reputation for having a few fingers in pies, Elba continues. But that said, you know, when I pull out and go wide-lens, Im building a sort of media village. Everythings related to storytelling, everythings related to taking off the restrictions we put on ourselves Thats my secret sauce.

Read on for more on how Elba came to work on Hijack, and whether viewers have seen the last of Sam Nelson.

You star in and executive produce Hijack. How did you end up working on this project?

There was an idea in the cycle of my production deal at Apple at the time, and we [Elba and writer George Kay] were just kicking loads of stuff around and figuring out what it is. One thing I really wanted was to have a show that had an impact. Not necessarily, like, a message but just something that people go, Oh, man, its stuck to me. Binge television these days, when you binge something it has to be good, and you just want more, you want to get through the story and you invest yourself in the characters. When my wife and I, when we watch Succession, we end up talking like the characters by the end of it. Thats real binge stuff. We did the same with Ozark and we ended up doing Jason Bateman impressions. I think I wanted a show that had that sort of impact.

Theres so much choice, you know. Theres really good television really bad shit as well and, you know, my history and legacy of television, its usually been good shit. And I wanted just to make sure that I contributed as a producer in that way. So the idea came [from Kay] and we kicked that around and that blossomed into what Hijack was. I guess the premise was, what would [Elbas character Sam Nelson] do if he was on a plane and it got hijacked? What would you do? And its kind of like, well, Id sit there and wait and hope we dont die? Or would you just do something about it?

Did you always plan to star in it?

I knew I was gonna star in it, yes. George Kay said, I want you to play Sam, do you like this character? And that was the beginning of that, the unpacking of Sam. Also, I was keen to play a character that was not necessarily an action hero but was in an action setting [who has] the sort of vulnerability of a man whos an ordinary person, who would make mistakes. I dont want him to be like, Yeah! Idris is gonna save the day, go and punch him in the mouth. I wanted him to be vulnerable and a bit like, you know, an unusual hero.

The story has echoes of Steven Seagal films or Die Hard, but without the copious violence. How deliberate of a decision was it to make Sam a negotiator rather than, say, a cop or a Navy Seal?

It was very early on. We tried to understand like, who is the man thats thinking all the time, but is not necessarily a cop or a detective? We ran through psychologist and things like that, but where we ended up was Sam being a sort of merger/acquisitions lawyer, you know, someone that comes in at the end to try and close the deal. Those people are an interesting type of person. Negotiating is a very interesting way of saying psychologist. Youre a negotiator, but what youre actually doing is just picking someones psychology, their psyche, their weak spots, and playing it against someone elses, and having the knowledge of the business deal as a way to set themselves up against each other. And it also meant that he can be quite an orator, a thinker, because hes a negotiator. We didnt want him to be a cop or detective or an ex-marine or anything like that, because it just felt trope-y. Theres enough tropes in a show called Hijack anyway.

The series was shot on a scale replica airplane in a studio. Have you ever experienced shooting something so confined?

It was quite unique. Its changed how I fly. Im a bit of a trainspotter now for planes. A planespotter. And it was real dynamics, we didnt [move] walls or anything, what you see is what you get. So you found us using angles that were just slightly different because we had a lot less space. It was quite interesting. Jim Field Smith is a really phenomenal director, really understanding the way to make this space interesting optically. Weve all been on a plane and so once youve seen it, youve seen it, but I think he found a way to make it feel like a spaceship at times, made the kitchen area incredibly claustrophobic. And, you know, its a seven-hour flight [in the series] but we shot it over four and a half, five months.

Are we going to see more of Sam Nelson?

Well, Im gonna ask you the question. What would be the acceptable scenario that he comes back? Because weve thought about this and obviously Apple have gone, Well, we really love the show. And I think, you know, Rotten Tomatoes is at 92% at the moment, which is a good sign, but its kind of like hes not a cop what would be the acceptable Sam Nelson return? And if Im honest, Im not sure. Id like that, but I just dont want to put him on another hijack. Im open to that character coming back. I think if people were compelled to like the character, then Im in.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.