Actor Samuel C Wilson 'Starstruck' by Idris Elba on Masters of the Universe Set
An actor featured in the new Masters of the Universe film has revealed that working alongside Sir Idris Elba left him feeling "starstruck."
Masters of the Universe, released in the UK on Friday, is a modern re-imagining of the original 1980s cartoon series of the same name.
Samuel C Wilson, 35, from Cardiff, plays Trap Jaw, one of Skeletor's henchmen.
Wilson shared that he gained over 20kg (44lb) to prepare for the role and endured six hours daily in makeup and prosthetics to transform into the villainous cyborg.
"I'd be looking in the mirror with this new face on and if I smiled it didn't look like a smile - it looked more like a funny grimace.. so I had to re-learn [how to smile]," said Wilson.
"Having the jaw on was tough.. then I had these two black gumshields in... it was pretty intense, so acting was pretty tough with all that on."
Wilson also trained alongside Idris Elba to build muscle and get "as big as possible" before filming began.
"Luckily... literally the world's strongest man is my cast mate," said Sam.
"And I said 'all natural, how do I get as big and as strong as possible?' He was like 'don't' worry... that's something I'm particularly good at' so I trained with him."
Wilson described his on-screen fight scene with Elba as a highlight of the production.
"This stuff that I had taken months to rehearse, to get perfect, Idris just turned up on the day and smashed it out of the park," he said.
"He's seriously charismatic. He has a gravitational field around him. I had to say to him at the beginning, in all my prosthetics, 'I have to tell you I'm a little bit star struck and it might take me five minutes'.
"And he was like 'I got you man. Don't worry. Don't worry.' He was really, really sweet with me.
"There were lots of those moments. I was surrounded by all these famous people. And working with them.. so there was a lot to take in."
Wilson has appeared in several major productions including Dodger, House of the Dragon, and Under Salt Marsh.
He is set to appear in the BBC series California Avenue and the science fiction show Bladerunner 2099.
Wilson mentioned that his friends call him "Welsh Sam."
"I think it'll take me some time to re-acclimatise to the fact that people are watching stuff that I'm in.
"Because it wasn't very long ago I was doing pub theatre stuff... which I love too."
Masters of The Universe stars Idris Elba as Man-At-Arms, Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man, Camila Mendes as Teela, Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn, and Jared Leto as Skeletor. The film was released in the UK on Friday, 5 June.
