Idris Elba may go toe-to-toe with a vicious lion in his new movie Beast, but the action star didn't expect to run into one IRL.
"There was a lion there who wasn't in the movie, and he was on set," the actor exclusively told E! News' Daily Pop at the film's NYC premiere on August 8. Luckily, Elba managed to keep his cool, telling the wild animal, "'That's my guy. Hey, buddy, what you doing over there? You running away?'"
The thriller, which premieres August 19, follows Elba's Dr. Nate Samuels and his two daughters, Norah (Leah Jeffries) and Meredith (Iyana Halley), whose trip to South Africa gets derailed by a bloodthirsty lion on the run from poachers.
"We had to try to make this feel as real as possible," the 49-year-old said of filming the action flick. "We flew out into the middle of South Africa, into the wilderness. And we had less, so we consumed less, our minds were sharp, we worked hard. It was lots of rehearsal. It was a small, tight crew, but we really worked as a family."
While the film features several edge-of-your-seat moments, the Suicide Squad star told Daily Pop that the real heart of the movie is family. "The actual story about the father and his daughters and trying to make a better relationship with them," he shared, "that was very moving for me."
The story hits home for the father of two, who shares daughter Isan, 20, with ex-wife Hanne Norgaard and son Winston, 8, with ex Naiyana Garth.
As a dad, "The best thing to do is just be able to listen to your children, and they'll tell you what they're feeling and thinking," he shared. "And the only way to connect to them is by listening. And when they allow you to speak, then you speak."
Check out the full interview above.
Beast premieres in theaters August 19.