Idris Elba rushed to hospital after suffering asthma attack on plane bound for South Africa ahead of Mandela premiere

PUBLISHED: 16:34 EST, 2 November 2013 | UPDATED: 16:42 EST, 2 November 2013

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Hospitalised: Idris Elba was taken to hospital after suffering an asthma attack on a plane bound for South Afica

Idris Elba was rushed to hospital afrer suffering an asthma attack on an aeroplane bound for South Africa.

The 41-year-old actor had been due to fly to Johannesburg to attend a press conference for his new movie Mandela: A Long Walk of Freedom, but was instead rushed to hospital in the UK after having the attack.

However, the film's producer Anant Singh said he was expected to appear at a planned red carpet event on Sunday.

'Idris is in hospital after an asthma attack on the plane last night,' Mr Singh told reporters at the press conference.

Elba stars alongside fellow British actor Naomie Harris in the film.

Speaking previously about getting into character for the movie, Elba told the Daily Mail's Baz Bamigboye's that he spent a night on Robben Island, locked in a cell next to the one where Mandela was jailed for 18 years.

He said: 'I wanted the audience to know what it was like once Mandela and his colleagues were jailed and the crowds dissipated.'

The actor travelled around South Africa researching the role and wrote to the authorities on Robben Island (now a heritage site) to ask if he could stay in the jail. Initially, they turned him down, but later they recanted.

In character: Idris as the politician in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, due for release next year

‘Look, we turn the key and you’ll be here till we let you out again at eight in the morning,’ a security man told him.

Taking it seriously: Elba went to extreme lengths to get into character for the role

‘It was a s***hole,’ Elba said. ‘I had a thin blanket for a mattress and that’s all there was between me and the concrete floor. They gave me a bowl. I had no water, nothing to drink at all. I was wearing my sweats and whatnot. I had two iPads to document myself and a cell phone.

‘Mr Mandela spent 18 years in the cell next to mine. It was a tiny room; the man turned the key and as I saw him walk away, it was plunged into darkness.

‘Before he went, he gave me a number to call if I wanted to be released. Later I checked my phone, but there was no signal. I was there for the whole night, whether I liked it or not. I slept for about an hour in total. There were ghosts there - of course there were! - because people had died there. I woke in the night and a massive cold thing hit my face, almost like cold water . . . it was obviously a spirit.

‘The wind made the cell bars make this ringing sound that echoed throughout the building. They clanged all night. I was on my own, but I wasn’t alone.

‘Later, every time I did the cell scenes in the film, I thought of that night. It wasn’t pretend for me.’

The film will be released in the UK on January 3.