Idris Elba needs four hours’ sleep

Idris Elba only needs four hours’ sleep and can work 12 hour days on set, which he outs down to being “conditioned to the workload”.

The 46-year-old star isn’t too worried if he barely gets any sleep as he can “still function” the next day as long as he’s got a solid four hours and had a power nap.

He said: “When I have a gig, that changes my day significantly and I’ll have to get into that zone for two hours for the show, which might not finish until 3am, so on those nights I’m not asleep until maybe 4, but I’ll manage that by having a 40-minute power nap in the afternoon. As long as I can get four hours’ decent sleep, I can still function the next day. I don’t have a specific pre-sleep ritual, but I love my bed. I love lots of nice, soft pillows – that sort of sensory stimulation keeps me in balance.”

And the ‘Star Trek Beyond’ actor is “conditioned to the workload” and could easily do a 12 hour day on set, much to the surprise of his own mother.

He added to The Sunday Times magazine: “After porridge and a glass of water at home, I’m usually on set for 12 hours. My mum always says, ‘Wow, how many hours?’ but I’m a career actor, I’ve been doing it for 25 years, so I’m conditioned to the workload. If I’m playing a role with an accent I’ll keep it all day, so at lunchtime people might say, ‘Oh OK, Idris is doing a weird accent, I’ll just ignore it.'”

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