How Beast Brought the Lion to Set

Beast is hitting theatres tonight and will see Idris Elba, Leah Jeffries, and Iyana Halley as a family who is being hunted by a massive lion. The new thriller was directed by Baltasar Kormákur (Everest) and currently has a 76% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. Recently, ComicBook.com's Brandon Davis had the chance to chat with some of the folks involved with the film, and they talked about bringing the lion to life. 

"Man, I mean, obviously no lions in this, but it was definitely, we had to really pay attention," Elba (Dr. Nate Samuels) explained. "This is a fantastical story, lions don't attack human beings in this way, but we wanted to make it realistic. I was really keen to make a film that just plucked audiences from wherever they're sitting and threw them into this family's predicament right there. So it was interesting, it was really hard work as well."

"I was interacting with a stunt man wearing like, gray tights, clubby paws, and a head, where he could just kind of, just see through, there was like a pod, almost like a Disney character," Sharlto Copley (Martin Battles) shared. "You know, like the worst version of a Disney character, it's all gray. And then it's kind of like being photographed, with you know, someone at Disneyland. But it's different, it's sort of, wrestling and, it's a more hardcore version I'd say."

"I think it definitely created like new challenges, but in a good way because I just feel like you have to make sure you're extra focused, because if, like, one person messes up, then we have to start all over again. Because again, it's a long shot. So, it was challenging but, like, in a good learning way, you know?" Halley (Meredith Samuels) explained. 

"In this movie, for those like seven-minute long takes and things and stuff, a lot of those weren't even almost a part of the script," Jeffries (Norah Samuels) added. "Like, we were so into character sometimes that we would like improv and things and stuff, and we'd be like, 'Oh we gotta hurry up. We gotta get this. We gotta get that.' Like, we were so into it all the time that these takes were almost our real emotions and things."

Elba even compared the lion to working with Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Unvierse.

"Thanos is a lot taller, I ain't gonna lie, but no, I mean, the lion and the process of the lion was just like incredible, really detailed. But Thanos, that was cool too," he shared. 

Beast will be released exclusively in theatres this weekend.