Idris Elba Hospitalized: Actor Had Asthma Attack on Plane Before 'Mandela' Press Stop

Idris Elba was hospitalized after having an asthma attack over the weekend. The actor was headed to Johannesburg, South Africa to promote his biopic "Mandela: A Long Walk of Freedom" when the incident occurred, but the trip had to be delayed due to his health issues.

Idris Elba's hospitalization was revealed by the Nelson Mandela film's producer, Anant Singh, who said the actor was staying in a U.K. health facility.

"Idris is in the hospital after an asthma attack on the plane last night," he told reporters at a press conference. He expected the "Luther" actor to appear at the film's premiere, however.

In "Mandela: A Long Walk of Freedom," the U.K. actor plays Nelson Mandela, the South African revolutionary and the first black South African to become president in the country. Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years for attempting to change the plight of South African people under apartheid, and to play the role, Elba was imprisoned as well.

"I wanted the audience to know what it was like once Mandela and his colleagues were jailed and the crowds dissipated," he told the Daily Mail.

Elba attempted to stay in Robben Island- the former prison is now a heritage site- but was initially turned down by authorities. They changed their minds, however, and the actor stayed a night in the cell next to Mandela's old one.

"It was a s---hole," Elba said of the experience. "I had a thin blanket for a mattress and that's all there was between me and the concrete floor. … I had no water, nothing to drink at all."

"Later, every time I did the cell scenes in the film, I thought of that night. It wasn't pretend for me," he added.