When Kathryn Bigelow sets a clock in motion, she doesn’t let go. From The Hurt Locker to Zero Dark Thirty, her films have been exercises in tension, exploring how ordinary people react when the stakes are crushing. Her latest project, A House of Dynamite, might be her most nerve-racking yet: 18 minutes to decide what to do after a nuclear missile is launched at the United States.

The story plays out in real time, moving across multiple locations revealed in varying degrees across three main vantage points, one shown after the other. Soldiers in Alaska’s Fort Greely bunker track the incoming threat, STRATCOM’s underground command deck weighs military options, and in Washington, the White House and its administration face the impossible.

That’s where Idris Elba steps in. Cast as the president of the United States, he made the choice early on not to play the role as a stiff political archetype. Instead, he wanted audiences to see a man they might know in everyday life. “By the time my character comes into the film, the audience is so aware of aspects... It’s like, ‘Oh man, we’re gonna go through this again,’” Elba said. “And so, for me, I was trying to find a way to really ‘red herring’ the audience. Like, ‘Oh, the president in the last two segments sounds really stressed, and he’s, like, yelling’... So, when we meet him in this story, what does his 18 minutes look like? And I tried to make it seem as ordinary as possible.”

That intention meant grounding the role in everyday habits rather than presidential theatrics. Elba wanted his POTUS to feel like someone whose quirks or struggles might be familiar. “We need to look at him and go, ‘[He] kind of reminds me of my uncle a little bit,’ you know, just that moment,” he explained. Those ordinary touches made their way into the performance, including a seemingly random moment where he had an issue with his footwear. “The tight shoes thing was an improvisation to illustrate how ordinary his day was… and then slowly watch this impossible decision come from that normal human being.”

Bigelow’s filmmaking style gave Elba the environment to make those choices stick. The director is known for her obsession with realism, and on A House of Dynamite, that meant building 360-degree sets designed to feel fully operational. Actors could walk through hallways, open doors, and interact with others without being tied to marks. Cinematographer Barry Ackroyd captured it all with a roaming lens, closer to a documentary style than drama.

For Elba, that setup was a game-changer. “The spaces were so ultra realistic. The camera was there like a documentary,” he expressed. “This is my space. I’m in the Oval Office. I’m speaking to my chief of staff. I’ve got people outside, people that are off camera that are working.” For this film, the process wasn’t about pretending; it was about reacting to a space that felt authentic. “So, yes, it made me just [feel] like, okay, this is real. I am this person.”

That immersion also changed the dynamic between director and performer. Rather than being micromanaged, Elba felt empowered to explore. “It definitely helped me, and helped Kathryn, and helped all of us just tell the story,” he expressed. “I think I felt so non-controlled by a director.”

Watch the full conversation above.