Better than yesterday: Idris Elba strives to keep improving

Idris Elba fought bad guys in midair in his Apple TV hit “Hijack.”

What happens now when the 53-year-old actor gets on a plane?

“I’ll hear, ‘Idris? Oh, Idris is it really you? What are you doing here?’ ”

“I’m just a passenger!” he reassures them in that deep, British baritone.

If that’s any indication of the show’s appeal, Elba might soon have an issue on trains, too.

Season 2 of the heist thriller “Hijack,” now streaming with weekly episodes, finds his talented business negotiator Sam Nelson among a trainload of commuters taken hostage on Berlin’s underground rail system.

Can he save the day for the second time? Should the guy stick to driving?

Elba — whose memorable roles include playing Detective John Luther on the BBC and Netflix crime drama “Luther” and Stringer Bell on the HBO drama “The Wire” — also executive produces “Hijack,” which garnered him an Emmy nomination for the first season.

He has a busy slate of upcoming projects, including a movie sequel to “Luther” and roles in the films “Masters of the Universe,” “Children of Blood and Bone” and “Above the Below.”

Elba and his wife, Sabrina, live in his native London. His good life tips:

Seeking answers

Elba isn’t just a guy trying to save people on a train in the new eight-episode run of “Hijack.” This season explores his character Sam more deeply as a person. “The audience was left with a lot of questions,” he says. “Who is this guy really? What makes him tick? Where has he been since the plane incident, and what is he going through as a man? He saved a lot of lives, but he went through a major trauma himself. I wondered where he was psychologically. He’s a broken man looking for answers.

“The biggest question of all is why he’s on this train in Berlin in the first place.”

More than a hero

Elba leans toward leading characters who have a lot going on. “There is certainly real estate to hold up, and I like that challenge,” he says. “I play a lot of big characters who audiences want to spend time with over many episodes. That’s very lucky to find those roles. ‘Hijack’ is a bit different because he’s not just the hero; he also has to save himself, which is what people do every single day.”

New and improved

Elba acknowledges that life can seem bleak if you “turn on the news and listen to bad news and more bad news.” He adds: “My goal is to get up and do something new every single day. I want to do better than I did yesterday.”

Attitude of gratitude

Being a Hollywood star affords him some special opportunities, and that’s not lost on Elba. “What I get to do is a privilege, and the fan response is very dear to me,” he says. “I get to go to many parts of the world, do work I love and meet so many interesting new people with new views. I don’t take any of it for granted.”

Tap into yourself

Elba says he two greatest commodities are imagination and audacity. “My mum used to say, ‘You have audacity to do this or that …’ Yes, I do have the audacity, which is important in this world. The other thing that comes into play is imagination, which makes the world go around. … I try to get younger people to understand their wealth and fortune is within themselves. It’s their creative force. Whatever it is, whatever age it is, just go for it. Try it. Find the wealth within yourself. Don’t sound like them. Sound like you.”

Idris’ groove

An avid DJ, Elba enjoys the music scene, but he also knows when to turn in early. “You’ll mostly find me in my hotel room chilling if I’m on location,” he says. “You need to give yourself the time to recharge and sleep.” But Elba will still get his groove on. “I’ve been a DJ since I was 8 when I played music at my parents parties,” he adds.

Early engagement

Elba fell in love with producer, model and businesswoman Sabrina Dhowre while filming the movie “The Mountain Between Us.” He proposed at a screening of his film “Yardie” in February 2018. He had planned to wait until Valentine’s Day that year, but the ring was “burning a hole in my pocket, so I just dropped to one knee early.”

Give back

Elba was knighted by King Charles III as part of the U.K.’s 2026 New Year’s Honors list for his service to young people and other charity work, including an anti-knife crime campaign through his Elba Hope Foundation. His message is youth empowerment. “I try to raise awareness of what young people go through,” he says. His best advice to them? “Create a future that doesn’t have a blueprint,” he says.