Movies

Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton discuss the power of storytelling in Three Thousand Years of Longing

Watch EW's video interview with the stars of director George Miller's latest film.

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Published on August 25, 2022

Telling a good story is a lot like making a wish: Through the proper application of language, you bring a different reality into being. The blurry line between wishes and stories is apparent in Three Thousand Years of Longing, the new film from director George Miller that stars Idris Elba as a centuries-old genie and Tilda Swinton as the modern woman who releases him from his bottle.

Like any fictional character who's ever freed a djinn, Swinton's Alithea is given the opportunity to make three wishes — as long as they represent her heart's desire. But Alithea, a scholar, is well-versed in the history of stories from all over the world, so she knows how easily wishes can go wrong. As she figures out what exactly to wish for and how precisely to word it, she convinces Idris's djinn to tell her stories from his own long life.

"It just endorsed my understanding of how important narrative is to us," Swinton told EW over Zoom in a joint interview with Elba, bright and early in the morning on the last day of San Diego Comic-Con. "It gives us perspective. It's also something we share. We listen to a story, and we share it. It's an empathy machine, narrative."

While Miller's last movie, the acclaimed action masterpiece Mad Max: Fury Road, was set in a dystopian future, Three Thousand Years of Longing explores the fantastical past. Based on the 1994 short story The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye by A.S. Byatt, Three Thousand Years of Longing takes place across the Middle East, from an ancient meeting between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, to court intrigues of the Ottoman Empire. But this is the mythical land of the Old Testament and the The Arabian Nights, not a history textbook.

"This was a short story so rich in content and full of paradoxes," Miller tells EW. "One of the principal characters — played by Tilda — is a creature of reason. The other — played by Idris — is driven by emotion and desire. One is mortal, the other eternal. They encounter each other in a hotel room in modern day Istanbul but the narrative spans 3,000 years. So, in ways that I hope are fresh, the film looks at why it is we are hardwired for story. How do we know what is real or not? What are the gestures that define love?"

Elba adds, "George fell in love with this short novella two decades ago. I can say with confidence that story resonated with him. He wanted to honor it, but also expand on it and give his George Miller magic to it. I actually didn't read the novella — I didn't want to be tainted or influenced by it. Any literature about djinn was off the table for me. I didn't want it to pre-empt my character-building."

Miller is the kind of director that actors want to work with, not least because of the wide spectrum of films he's made over the years: domestic dramas, comedies, animation. Though Miller is best known for the four Mad Max films, it was 1987's The Witches of Eastwick that entranced Elba and made him want to work with the director. A chance encounter at an awards show made clear that they were both interested.

"He's a real master — he operates on every single level," Swinton says. "People are saying that compared to the Mad Max films, this is a relatively contained chamber piece of a film. But still it's got 3,000 years' worth of footage in it. He was all over every single detail, and for so long. We talked about the film for about four or five years before we shot it. We didn't waste a second. When we started to shoot and we saw how engaged he is with the camera, it was really an amazing thing to be around him and a camera together."

Adds Elba, "He treats every film he's making like his first film, like a young budding director wanting to make every frame as good as it can be. He was first in the door, last out the door."

Miller was also open to collaboration. It was Elba who suggested that they film all the stories the djinn tells Alithea before filming the scenes between the two main characters. That way, Elba knew of what he spoke, and Swinton got to really see things from Alithea's perspective.

Elba's favorite of those stories from the Djinn's past was the first, which takes place in the court of the Queen of Sheba (here imagined as even more dominant and powerful than King Solomon).

"That's when he was the happiest, just living his life," Elba says of his character. "We shot that sequence on this very beautiful and well-crafted set. It was incredibly practical, not much green screen. All those incredible characters and instruments were all very much there. It was like stepping back into time. I had to learn Aramaic, which was tough but a great experience."

After working on this film for so long, have Swinton and Elba figured out what they would wish for if they ever encountered a djinn?

Swinton's answer: "My belief is that the wish you would ask of a djinn has to be something you couldn't sort out for yourself, or it would be a waste. I would maybe wish to be a racehorse, or a bird."

Elba's answer: "Lately we've been seeing these incredible images of our galaxy. I would love to go visit!"

Watch EW's full interview with Elba and Swinton above. Three Thousand Years of Longing hits theaters on August 26.

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