Riding TALL

Idris Elba gets in the saddle for a new coming-of-age drama set in Philadelphia

- RICHARD MCCLURE, CAREN CLARK, JUDY EWENS

Idris Elba admits he faced an unusual challenge when he signed on for new Netflix film Concrete Cowboy. The movie sees the Luther actor play an American dad who spends his time running an urban stables and riding horses on the streets of Philadelphia.

‘I’m actually allergic to horses,’ reveals Elba. ‘So it wasn’t just learning how to ride a horse and bonding with it. Come the first day of training, I was scoffing down antihistamines to stop my eyes getting swollen and my skin blotching out. So, the first thing to learn was how to sit on a horse without crying my eyes out.’