Idris Elba Once Shared He Kissed Beyoncé Within the First 20 Minutes of Meeting Her for ‘Obsessed’

Beyoncé once embarked on an acting career after conquering the world of music in the 2009 feature Obsessed. She co-starred alongside The Wire alum Idris Elba in the role.

But it wasn’t too long after their first meeting that they had to be intimate with each other for the feature.

Idris Elba had to kiss Beyoncé within the first 20 minutes of meeting her

Elba and Beyoncé both played a married couple in the 2009 hit film Obsessed. Ali Larter joined the pair, portraying a character who’d become increasingly enamored by Elba’s. Elba was drawn to the role for several reasons, including variety. Many of the star’s fans were attached to one of Elba’s most well-known characters as Stringer Bell in The Wire. Obsessed gave the audience an opportunity to see Elba portray a role that couldn’t have been any more different than his Wire counterpart.

Elba was also attracted to the idea that the film focused on an African-American couple.

“It hasn’t been said yet, and it probably won’t be said because it’s not a part of the film, but there’s an obvious moment of ‘Oh! That’s interesting!’ by way of race, in that there’s an African-American couple in the leading position in a thriller. It’s not mentioned in the film, it’s never an issue, and I think that’s phenomenal,” Elba once said in an interview with Oprah.

Elba was also looking forward to working with Beyoncé. Although their meeting went well enough, it took a bit of an awkward turn given that they were required to make out immediately.

“It was weird when I met her – within 20 minutes we had to kiss. I wasn’t complaining. It was full on, we had to do these pictures for the wall and it was full on kissing. I was like, ‘Oh god, I’m kissing Beyoncé, I can’t believe it,’” Elba once said according to Contact Music.

How Idris Elba helped Beyoncé with her acting in ‘Obsessed’

Beyoncé had already been steadily building up her filmography starring in films like Dreamgirls. Obsessed gave the Grammy-winning artist even more of an opportunity to display her range as a performer. It was especially beneficial acting in a film that had as many dramatic elements as Obsessed did. Beyoncé was able to channel her emotions through the genre in ways that she couldn’t with others.

“I actually like it a lot more. You know, I still like — it’s easier for me. And I guess it’s because I hold so many things in, because I always have to be so professional. And I work very, very hard,” Beyoncé once said in an interview with Larry King. “So all of those things that — all of the things that I hold in, I’m able to — to let out when I do movies. And it’s really just exhilarating for me to release all of that, you know, when I do dramatic roles.”

The Lion King star also credited Elba for helping her in the role, who she had nothing but kind words about.

“He’s amazing. And, you know, he brought out a lot of wonderful things in my performance. It was the first time I did improv. And, you know, he is a student and a great teacher. And we’ve spent a lot of time just with the two of us going back and forth with the script and making adjustments and making it our own,” she added. “I learned so much working from him.”

Likewise, Elba held Beyoncé in equally high regard.

“She’s a true professional—a very smart, talented, giving actress. It was a very good experience, and we had a phenomenal time,” he said.