Actor Idris Elba spent a night in the jail where Nelson Mandela was locked up for 18 years as a part of his research for a role in a new biopic.
The 41-year-old actor, who plays the civil rights leader in the biopic "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom", decided to visit the Robben Island prison in South Africa where Mandela spent almost two decades, reported Contactmusic.
"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," Elba said.
"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," he added.
Elba thinks there were ghosts in the cell.
"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," he said.
"Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" is set to hit theatres on November 13 in US.
