Original subtitles

Hi, everybody.

Well, these are indeed some challenging times

and I know, like many of you,

I've been thinking about what all of this means a lot.

What I realize

and know for sure

is that this is a big test for our humanity.

And this is a moment

that we have an opportunity

in the midst of all of our fears and disruption

to really rise

and I know that so many people are feeling

a sense of anxiety and fear

and uncertainty in this moment.

I wanted to be able to offer some solace,

some comfort, some hope

and, in doing so,

speak to people who were actually going through it

and getting through it,

speak to thought leaders who can add some perspective,

to let us all know that we are not alone,

that we are indeed in this together,

and that we can come out on the other side of it

stronger than we were.

And so I have started these Oprah Talks

in order to do just that,

to let everybody know we are not alone.

And today,

I have the pleasure of speaking to Idris Elba

and his wife, Sabrina,

who are also safer, not at home,

but quarantined in New Mexico.

Thanks for joining us.

- Morning, Oprah. Hi. - Morning. Morning, Idris.

- Hi. - Morning. Hi.

Well, Idris Elba, thank you so much

for doing this interview with me.

I know that many people have asked you

and you've said absolutely not,

but you said yes to me, so thank you so much.

You're welcome. Thank you.

Yeah, I've been avoiding the sort of mainstream media

in terms of doing interviews.

I want to talk to you as a friend

but also as someone, I think,

whose journalistic approach to doing things like this,

in times like this, is probably one of the best, so.

Well, thank you.

Where are you quarantined and how are you?

I'm in New Mexico...

Where I was about to start filming.

I'm okay. I'm okay.

I feel fine.

Been checking my temperature every day.

Feel good. The air here–

How high has it been?

How high has the temperature been?

I think the highest has been 98.

- Mm. - 98.

- That's pretty okay. - Yeah.

I mean... [laughs]

I really haven't witnessed any major symptoms

in this time.

And I'm feeling okay, you know, mentally.

The rest, if I'm really honest, has been incredible.

Just to be able to sit still.

I never sit still,

and so from a mental point of view,

I feel pretty focused and been okay.

So it's been a few days now

since you posted that you had, you know, COVID-19,

and I think that video, the last time I checked,

is, like, 33 million views.

[chuckles]

So a lot of people are concerned

about you and Sabrina.

Why did you decide to go public?

Um...

Well, you know, listen,

you know, COVID-19 has come to a sort of pressure point now,

but for the last two weeks,

it's been a talking point,

and I really felt that a lot of people

just didn't know what was gonna come, what was happening.

It didn't really feel relatable.

You know, there were a bunch of theories

going around that, you know, it's a conspiracy,

is it even real?

This, that, and the third.

And when I got tested

and came back positive, it became very real.

It was always real for me, but it became very real.

And I just felt compelled

to tell people that this is very real.

I think that, you know,

someone like myself in the public eye,

you know, can press a button

and 30 million people will get a message

the next day or in the same day,

I think it's a really important component

in the messaging around COVID right now.

Because where I was before I tested positive–

I didn't know what was what.

The media does a great job of scaremongering

in times like this.

You know, even just in the presentation of the news,

it's very dramatic, doesn't feel factual,

and it feels very, sort of, manipulative

if you don't mind me saying, you know?

And so I just wanted, you know, to tell people

that this is real for me,

make it very real for you.

And I saw on one of your videos

that you were inspired by Tom and Rita.

- 100%, yeah, yeah. - Yeah.

You know, Tom being in, I suppose,

a high-risk category

while on set being on a film,

you know, came out immediately, which is the right thing to do,

100%.

- Film sets are incubators. - Right.

Essentially a super-spreading cell, if you like.

So many people work in our industry.

I think Tom did the right thing

and so I was definitely inspired by him coming out,

being quite open and transparent about it.

And, you know, I spoke to my wife about it and I said,

"Look, I think really should say something,"

and she said, "Yeah? You know, let's do it."

How were you–

I know you've explained this before,

but for the 30 other people

who weren't a part of the 33 million who've seen the tape,

can you explain how you came to get a test

because a lot of people, obviously,

haven't had an opportunity to be tested,

even those who wanted to be tested.

So explain to us how that came to be.

Well, it came to be

because, you know, it broke in the news

that someone that I'd been in the public eye with

a week ago, or a week prior, tested–

- March 4th. March 4th. - March 4th, exactly.

Yeah, had tested positive for COVID.

My company, the film company I'm working with,

immediately thought that it would be a risk,

not only for myself, my family,

but the production

and the people surrounding the production

if I was exposed, so that was an immediate risk.

Because they had seen you with this person.

[Idris] Yes.

So immediately, they arranged

for a private doctor.

You know, most film sets have arrangements

with private doctors in order to help cast and crew

in times of illness

and so that doctor came to visit me,

understood immediately that I was exposed,

gave me a mask, put it on my face, and said,

"Look, you're not showing the symptoms

that we've been recognizing,

but I think it's important

and it is important to the film company that you're tested,"

so he tested me.

He did explain to me that I'm very lucky

to get a test because he has one of three left.

Wow.

And I said–

You know, I was appreciative.

I said, "I'm hoping that it comes back negative."

I'm just hoping that for the peace of mind

of the film and everyone that I'm working with

we should do this immediately.

And that's how I got tested.

You know, I didn't–

Had I not been on the film set,

I think I would have not been able to have gotten a test

as easy as I did.

I feel very fortunate in hindsight

now that I have taken a test

because I certainly quarantined myself from that day

and haven't been out since or around other people.

How long are you gonna be quarantined now?

[Idris] That's a good question, Oprah.

I really don't know the answer to that.

You know, whether it's a case

of being quarantined from the time I was exposed

or the time I was tested, that's unsure for me right now.

I do know that, essentially, at some point,

I'm gonna have to retest

since I haven't shown any symptoms.

I'm past the incubation period.

I think there's another test to have at some point.

I'm not sure when.

And considering how difficult it is to get tests,

that could be...whenever.

So this is so unusual.

And it's why I'm glad you're talking to us

'cause you still have no symptoms,

your temperature's still 98.6,

you don't feel anything.

So for all intents and purposes,

you wouldn't know still that you have this virus.

Yeah. Yeah.

That is–

You know, I'm glad you brought that up

because I think that's a real key component here.

I could be in the public.

I could be at home amongst my fam–

I could be still spreading it

and I have no symptoms, you know?

I think that the doctor explained to me

that possibly I had symptoms, didn't realize it.

You know, when I met him,

I had some headaches,

little bit of an achy body.

I put that down to A: being in a higher altitude

and B: traveling a lot.

I'd just finished another job

five, ten days prior

and was moving on to this job.

I didn't have much of a break in between

and typically, you know, one gets run down, gets tired,

and those are the symptoms of that.

But I had no real symptoms

as it pertains to COVID.

So yeah, it's interesting and worrying

that people are possibly carrying this disease,

seemingly okay,

but seemingly can spread it just as easily.

Are you–

are you concerned at all, Idris,

that you were in contact with people

before you know you had it who might also be infected?

Yeah, 100%. In the time period from my exposure,

which was March 4th,

I was around my son,

his nanny, my friends.

I was around my mother.

I was around my wife, one of her friends.

And then I did my whole journey to New Mexico and my work.

I did– [clears throat] Excuse me.

You know, there's a–

I went to–bought a guitar while I was here.

[chuckles]

And not to mention the actors

and the people that I worked with in rehearsals.

So yeah, the–you know, when I follow my trail back

from the time I was "exposed"

to the time I quarantined,

I saw a bunch of people,

which is a very typical case of someone who doesn't know.

And secondly,

you know, there's no telling

when I was exposed within that time period.

You know, so far, everyone that I've spoken to

who I have been exposed to is fine.

No showing symptoms.

My son is fine, as well.

Apart from driving his mother crazy around the house.

But so far, everyone is okay.

So are you concerned at all

because the CDC

and the World Health Organization

have included asthma sufferers

on the list of people who are also most at risk–

and we all know that you have asthma,

so is that a concern– deeper concern for you?

Even though you have no symptoms.

Yeah, it's a big concern for me.

I've had asthma all my life.

Secondly, I'm in higher altitude at the moment,

which makes breathing even more difficult.

So yes, I'm very concerned about that.

Spoke to the doctor about that and he just said,

"Look, you know, you need to keep a specific watch out

for the symptoms on your respiratory system."

I used an inhaler.

I've had to use it quite a bit because of–

I think because of the altitude.

But yeah, I am–I am definitely worried about it, yeah.

So when we saw the video, Sabrina was behind you,

and I know a lot of people were, you know,

people who have something to say about everything,

were concerned also that she was so close to you.

You all are now enclosed together.

Is she there?

Yeah, Sabrina's here with us, yeah, she's here.

- Can we talk to Sabrina? - Yeah, come on in.

- Yes. - Hey!

Hey! Hi, Sabrina.

- Hey, how are you? - So everybody can see you.

I'm good. You all aren't social distancing.

Have you been tested? Have you been tested?

I have. I've been tested.

Actually, I found out this morning, Oprah,

that I tested positive.

So you know, I'm not surprised.

As soon as I heard that Idris was potentially exposed,

I mean, I was on my way anyways,

and I wanted to be with him.

I think that's an instinct as a wife.

You just wanna go and take care.

And you know, we didn't change the way we inter–

I could have made a decision

to put myself maybe in a separate room

or stay away and I'm sure that people

are making those decisions

and they're tough decisions to make,

but I made the decision to want to be with him

and, you know, still touch him.

- And you know, so. - Yeah.

I mean, you know, we were, on the alleged day of exposure,

we were together at home.

- Yep. - And had been together

right up until I had departed to come fly.

So at any point then,

and prior to us knowing,

you know, exposure was...

you know, if I'd caught it,

she'd certainly caught it in that time period as well,

so, you know, I think, you know, people were...

are right to have highlighted that, you know,

show–you know, spatial distance is important.

I think, given the context of the video,

which was really about, you know, me telling the world

what's happened to us,

we weren't thinking about that specifically.

You know, Sabrina wasn't sitting there

thinking about her face or touching her face or whatever.

We were sort of compelled to share our message.

And on hindsight, we made a calculated decision

as a family to sort of just, you know,

stick together through this.

Mm-hmm.

And more than anything, we're hoping that...

that messaging of togetherness is really important,

except social distancing is very, very important

and, you know–

but at this time, you know, my wife stood by me.

Are you feeling any symptoms or are you symptom-free?

I'm not. I mean...

It could be similar to Idris.

I mean, we're in a high altitude.

It could be that I'm confusing, you know, seasonal allergies

as maybe symptoms,

but I don't feel anything that would, you know,

come to what people would now expect

to be a symptom of Coronavirus,

which is really strange.

And I mean, it might change in the coming weeks.

Mm-hmm.

And we'll keep everyone updated,

but it is worrisome that we're both sitting here, two people,

and everyone that we know that we've been in contact with,

all asymptomatic,

so it's a little bit worrisome.

Everybody talks about spending time with their families

and, "I wish I had more time to spend with my family."

And you were saying–

also, Idris said this is one of the first times

that you've just been able to be with yourself and family,

but can there be too much time with your family?

[laughter]

We'll let you know.

In a week maybe.

Check back in a week.

[laughter]

You know, I feel very fortunate

that we're able to have all this.

I mean, you know how busy Idris is.

- Yes. - Like...

We've both been so busy and it's so nice

to just be able to connect and spend the time together

and, you know, I mean, I think we're thankful for that.

If anything, it's a silver lining.

Yeah.

Are you learning things about each other

you didn't know?

When you're in this close proximity

where you actually cannot remove yourself,

do you learn things about each other you didn't know?

- Are you learning things? - Yes. Yes.

- Okay. - Yes.

- And what are you learning? - Annoying.

That's the word. Annoying. Oh, my goodness.

[laughter]

As she said, I don't know if you caught

that little bit of shade, you know,

she's young and I'm–I'm old.

Oh! I didn't mean it like that.

- No, I'm joking. No. - No.

Honestly, it's been okay so far.

We've distracted ourselves with video games,

we're playing chess,

we're clicking a lot together, which is nice.

You know, in your original video,

one of the things that struck me is,

you spoke for a moment about the divided world

we live in right now and I think you actually–

you said we can all feel it and it's bull–.

And...

You were saying that this now is a time of solidarity.

How do you see this moment for us as a world of people?

I think it's a very sobering moment

for this modern world.

You know, bearing in mind, I think there was–

is it the Black Plague? What plague was it?

Yeah, the Black– I mean, however long ago.

One of the plagues that they called the Black Plague

was, like, 200 million people died in this plague.

And not so far off Spanish Flu, I think.

- And then Spanish Flu. - Spanish Flu in 1918, yes.

- Yeah. - And Ebola.

And you know, we– [stammers]

It's really interesting when you think about

those pandemics that have gone in the past,

this one has seemed to get the most reaction

and attention from the world wide,

because the whole world is involved.

When Ebola was at its crisis,

it was a small part of West Africa,

and I daresay, not many people cared as much

because it was a "them" problem,

as opposed to an "us" problem.

But now it's an "everyone" problem.

It's a dangerous pandemic.

And I really, really think

that people need to reflect on how we deal with this.

You know, fast forward to a year and we're past this.

What do we want to say about the human race?

How do we feel about each other then?

Are we still going to be at high pressure, as we are now?

Distancing each other, political warfare.

You know, are we still gonna have

the same angst that we do now?

Or are we gonna be a better race, a better nation?

And that's what I'm really–

You know, one of the things that I think about all the time

is, like, when I look back on this,

did I do the right thing for others?

You know, ourselves are misfortunate

to have this disease, but actually, you know,

us spreading the word

and getting people to understand

that it's real for us and it should be real for you

is a token of, you know, good will,

to try and get people to care for each other

a little bit more, you know?

We all use social media now

and it's an incredible tool to connect to each other,

but people use it to troll and spread hate.

- Yeah. - We should stop–

We should stop doing that, like, now.

It should be uncool to troll anyone.

If you have nothing positive to say in your text,

just don't say it, you know?

I think it's– [stammers]

I've experienced that it's the opposite,

that people have nothing to do

and so trolling is what some people have developed

as their hobby right now.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

Yeah, it's very true.

But you know, all of that is very traceable.

It's all there. It's your digital footprint.

And it sticks with you for the rest of your life.

So, you know, I'd rather...

you know...

go out– and I hate to be glum,

but I'd rather go out with a positive,

knowing that other people benefitted

from, you know, the messaging that we're trying to put out.

You know, stop trolling people, stop sending misinformation.

Stop, you know, writing these incredible stories

about, you know, conspiracy theories.

If you wanna write, write a movie,

for – sake, but don't spread it as fact.

- It's so dangerous. - Or do poetry.

As this woman did the other day and that poem went viral.

I think, you know, when you posted earlier,

you were talking about the world...

is about to fall off its axis in this moment.

What are you all doing to keep your mental health stable?

What are you doing?

Hm, I mean, focusing on what we can control in the moment.

- Yeah. Mm-hmm. - I mean, for me,

that's kind of just cleaning around the house,

checking in with my family.

I think if you start focusing on all the things

that are out of your control, like you said,

it's really easy to start–

you know, it's gonna start affecting your mental health.

And just checking in with each other.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

Checking in with each other.

For me, creative energy is just a big part of my life,

so being creative, being able to write,

doing whatever I do creatively is really important.

Checking in with people.

I get a lot of emails all day now

and I'm always wondering what–

those people that are sending me an email,

what they're doing.

And just checking in with them,

getting into slightly deeper conversations

than "Hey, I'm good."

Just trying to figure out how they're doing,

what's happening.

That helps me a little bit.

You know...

I think the important thing is that we try and stay focused,

try and stay ahead of the curve.

At any one time, we may fall ill

since we are COVID-positive.

And you know,

that definitely keeps us a little bit focused.

I heard that– you mentioned earlier

and I heard on one of your other posts

that you got the guitar.

Are you getting good at it?

- Yes. - Ask him to play something.

- No. - I was gonna ask you

- to play something. - No, that's–

Would you serenade us a little bit?

It's too soon. It's too soon.

It's too soon? What are you learning?

- What are you practicing? - Thank you.

Just putting this over here.

He's actually– you know what?

He's not bad and I don't mind him playing it.

- I'm self– - Kind of romantic.

I'm self-teaching, which–

Are you serenading Sabrina?

Well, you know,

I serenade with, like, ums and uhs,

so there's not quite as many words yet,

but it's getting there.

It's a lot of "oh-whoa-whoas."

[laughter]

So this is a moment I think we all get to

step up in our own humanity.

What do you almost want people to know right now?

Well–go for it.

I think this is a time to...

as much as we are self-isolating,

it's gonna be really easy to start focusing in on yourself,

but I don't want people to forget

about thinking of others.

I mean, that's one of the reasons social distancing

is so important, not only to protect yourself,

but to protect the other people that you might see.

You know, someone's mother or grandmother

walking down the street that you might infect, so I just–

Like Idris said, this is a time for togetherness

and I really want people to just focus in

on how we can still have that togetherness,

even though we're self-isolating.

Yeah, also, you know, I think that

there is a crisis

amongst our governors, our governance,

that people can't get tested, doesn't–

don't feel protected.

I think that we as a people

that feel the brunt of that,

you know, should be lobbying

to try and get some change done.

There's a lot of sort of–

"How did you get tested? How did that get tested?"

That's not as important

as getting the people that can change that

to listen to our voices at this point.

I think, you know,

we can play the blame game,

but I think it's more important

for us to sort of start pulling together the resources,

the thinking power, and the people power

to get the change necessary

so that everyone can get tested.

Whatever that circular resource mechanism is,

let's pool our energy into that, fixing that.

You know, the people in the UK,

the NHS at the moment is just struggling.

They can't deal. How do we fix that?

That's what's really important.

So you know, and what that requires

is everyone to be sort of cognitive and thinking,

focused, as opposed to panic and scaremongering and hate.

We need to all think about how to change that.

Yeah. What is the bigger picture for all of us?

[Idris] What is the bigger picture for all of us?

We have to think like an ant colony,

as one, at this point.

We have to all carry our leaves

and our twigs in our bags

and figure out how to mend this ASAP.

That's what we need to do.

Isn't it interesting how in...

How a pandemic has the possibility

of bringing us together

in ways that even a week ago

none of us would have been able to predict or expect?

I mean, like, you being able to call bull–

on everything that's happened before–

your word, not mine.

[laughter]

[Oprah] Being able to call it and then in a week

we see how things have drastically changed.

Yeah. It is– it is–

it is incredible. I mean, it's...

It's–one of the upsides of this whole drama

is that we are forced

to think together as a race.

You know, we really are. You know...

[Oprah] As a human race.

As a human race, yeah.

But you know, also, our world has been taking a kicking.

You know, we've damaged our world

and, you know, it's no surprise

that our world is reacting to the human race.

It's no surprise that a virus has been created

that is gonna slow us down

and ultimately make us think differently

about our world and ourselves.

That's like a real– for me,

that's a standout thing that's very obvious,

that this is almost like the world's cry-out to, like,

"Hey, hey, hey, you're kicking me.

You know, what you're doing is not good."

So I'll get rid of you.

As any–any organism would do

is try and get rid of an infection

and maybe this is it for the world, so.

Yeah, I think it's important

as we are all trying to deal

with the pragmatic.

That's one of the reasons I wanted to do this with Apple,

is to talk to people like yourselves

who can bring a broader insight,

because I think we all lose as human beings

if we just think of this as a physical virus.

I think it's exactly what you just said,

that it's here to teach us,

show us something about ourselves, as individuals,

and also as a world of people.

And this is a moment for our humanity

to either rise or not.

- Yeah, I agree. - Yeah.

It really does– I'm really hoping that

the governance of the human race pay attention,

you know, to what's happening here.

Because I think it's for the governance

to think about what happened during COVID,

how we all responded to it,

and what can we do in the future, should it happen again.

I think that's where, you know, the real components

of change will really matter,

is, you know, my children, my children's children

will look back at this time and say,

"Hey, when that happened,

things changed on a higher level

that made all of us work better now."

And that's hopefully something that might–

good that comes out of this, you know?

[Oprah] Well, listen.

Thank you so much for talking to me

from your secluded space, quarantined space.

- [Idris] Thank you. - I believe

that you're gonna get better.

The whole world's rooting for you all.

[Idris] Well, we're rooting for the whole world.

I mean, we just hope that

everyone that's got this is dealing with it,

is just staying optimistic.

We'll look past, we'll find a cure for it.

And we'll look past at this

and we really hope that everyone just stays focused,

stays calm,

and think about others as well.

You know, we really hope that–

[Oprah] Sabrina, you don't regret–

or do you regret going to join him

now that you now have it?

[Sabrina] No. Not at all.

[chuckles] No.

I mean, you know, I am a bit worried

about people looking at us

and thinking because we're asymptomatic,

"Oh, they shouldn't–"

It's not as big a deal as people are making it to be.

I really don't want that to come out of this.

I think, if anything, it shows

more that we should be careful and self-isolate

and stay home because you don't know

who you're going to spread it to, but no,

I'm so happy to be next to this guy.

He's not–he's not too bad, you know?

I don't agree.

I feel very sort of regretful that she came.

I wanted her to stay where she was.

She didn't want to do that.

I mean, I was on my way. I was on the flight, so.

- You were, you were. - [Oprah] Yeah.

But I do feel a sense of responsibility,

as I do for everyone that I've met, from my exposure to here.

I was speaking to some of my colleagues

and I was expressing that,

"Listen, man, I feel like I've partly

put you in this predicament,"

and as a testament of who these people are

and how good they were, they were like,

"No, dude. We're in it together.

You know, there's no way you could have prevented that."

And it made me–

It really underlined what I was talking about,

about humanity sort of caring for each other.

Just made me feel so good

that these people didn't hold me accountable.

But at the same time, we're just very..

- You know, it's just... - [Oprah] Well...

In the same vein, did you hold accountable

the person or persons from whom you think you got it?

- [Idris] God, no. No. - No.

Yeah, we're all in this together.

We're all in this together, yeah.

It's great talking to you. Thank you.

[Oprah] Great talking to you both.

Thank you so much. Be well.

Yes, we miss you! Stay safe.

All right, stay safe, guys. Thank you.

- [Sabrina] All right. Bye. - [Idris] See you later. Bye.

Bye.