Entertainment Movies Idris Elba Says He Got Teased by Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham for Doing 'Cats' Idris Elba stars in the upcoming action movie Hobbs & Shaw alongside Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham By Helen Murphy Published on July 31, 2019 03:00 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Idris Elba‘s role in Cats was a source of humor for his Hobbs & Shaw costars. During a recent interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the 46-year-old actor said action stars Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham teased him about the musical while on the set of the Fast & Furious spinoff movie. “When I was working on Hobbs & Shaw, just after that I went to work on Cats,” Elba explained. “So I’m working with Dwayne and Jason and as soon as they found out I was working on Cats, this was their favorite thing to do as I walked on set.” “We’re doing this big fight scene, I’m walking in looking all bravado and they’re like, ‘Hey Idris, what’re you doing next?'” he continued. “And the crew would be like, ‘Yeah, what are you doing next?’ And I would be like, ‘…Cats.‘” Elba — PEOPLE’s reigning Sexiest Man Alive — stars as Macavity in the upcoming film adaption of the classic Broadway musical, which dropped its highly-anticipated trailer earlier this month. Mike Marsland/WireImage; Jeff Spicer/Getty; Stephen Lovekin/Getty During his interview with Stephen Colbert, Elba attempted to explain the plot of Cats, saying, “I guess it’s about a cat? How am I doing?” “It’s one cat’s journey towards what is essentially cat heaven,” he explained. “The idea is that we all aspire to get towards cat heaven. There’s this young cat and she gets sort of taken on this story about how to get to cat heaven, or what you should do to get into cat heaven.” “That is the best explanation of the plot of Cats I’ve ever heard,” Colbert, 55, responded. Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson and Idris Elba Shine in the First Trailer for Cats Movie The movie’s trailer also features glimpses at Elba’s Cats costars, including Rebel Wilson, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, James Corden and Taylor Swift. Jennifer Hudson‘s Grizabella sings the classic “Memory” in the clip, which was originally sung by Elaine Paige when the musical debuted on the West End in 1981. Universal Pictures Idris Elba, Who Deejayed at the Royal Wedding, Reveals Meghan Markle Gave Him a Setlist Elba teased Swift’s performance in March, telling Variety the singer “was great.” “Her and I had a lot of work to do together, and she was amazing. She worked hard and was just happy to be there,” he said. Hobbs & Shaw hits theaters Friday, while Cats is set to be released this December.