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Idris Elba admitted he was narrowly saved from falling to his death as he filmed his latest movie on location in Africa.

The British actor, 43, slipped six feet down a waterfall in Ghana while preparing for a scene in African war drama Beasts of No Nation. Speaking on Saturday’s episode of The Jonathan Ross Show, the father-of-two opened up on his brush with death.

He explained: ‘We decided to do this waterfall scene where all these child soldiers were walking behind this massive waterfall. 

‘In Hollywood you would have just filmed a bit of water coming down and just shot people’s close-ups but Cary Fukunaga, the director, decided to shoot it for real.’ 

The Luther star admitted he was quite relaxed at the top of the waterfall, falsely believing he was safe as he waited for the crew to set up for the scene.

He said: ‘The stunt coordinator says, “Listen everyone this is a waterfall, that’s a 90, 100 foot drop down there and the ground is very slippery, just be careful!”

‘I put my foot on this rock just to hang out and chill out while they were setting up and as I’m doing that it’s slippery, obviously. I slip [and think] I’ll be alright, I put my hand on this tree… it’s not a tree it’s a branch!

‘It snaps and I go literally about six feet before I go bang over and I got caught by the security guy!’

After Jonathan declared he could have fallen to his death, Idris joked: ‘Yes! Today’s news, Idris Elba dies by a waterfall.’

The film about a young boy forced to become a child soldier in West Africa brought Idris to film in his mother Ewe’s homeland Ghana.

He enthused ‘It was a great experience though, that was my most harrowing [film to shoot].

‘The director caught malaria and survived and it was great and he kept working so it was that type of shoot.’