When you’re shooting an intimate scene with one of the most acclaimed actresses of her generation, you’d think the last thing on your mind would be… socks.
But for Idris Elba, that was exactly the request.
Back in 2017, Elba and Kate Winslet starred together in the survival drama The Mountain Between Us. During a promotional appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Winslet spilled the tea on what really happened behind the scenes — and the audience couldn’t believe their ears.
Winslet Took the Director’s Chair
According to Winslet, she essentially ended up directing their intimate scenes herself. With more experience in that department than either Elba or the film’s actual director, she took charge to make sure everything felt right.
But the real shocker came when she revealed Elba’s one and only condition before they got down to business.
“Keep Your Socks On”
As Winslet recalled, she was ready to strip down — everything was coming off. Then Elba looked at her and said, “Keep your socks on.”
She was baffled. “Everything else is off. What’s with the socks?” she remembered asking him.
His answer? Short, sweet, and a little unexpected: he had a thing about feet.
“I Got a Thing, You Know”
The host, Graham Norton, turned to Elba expecting a denial. Instead, the actor just shrugged and confirmed it without missing a beat.
“I got a thing, you know. Just a thing,” Elba admitted.
Winslet, ever the quick wit, immediately fired back — joking that her feet were hardly the stuff of Hollywood dreams. “They’re enormous,” she said, comparing them more to a Hobbit’s than a leading lady’s.
But Elba wasn’t having it. “They’re all right, they’re all right,” he insisted, which somehow made the whole thing even funnier.
The Opposite of What You’d Think
Winslet made sure nobody in the audience misunderstood Elba’s preference. “It’s the opposite, ladies and gentlemen,” she announced. “Idris loves feet.”
She then jokingly invited the entire studio audience to take off their shoes in his honor — though, surprisingly, nobody obliged.
A Lighthearted Moment Between Two Pros
For all the laughs, the moment revealed something genuine about both actors: Winslet’s professionalism in taking the lead on set, and Elba’s unapologetic honesty about his quirks — even on live television.
The Mountain Between Us may have been a tense survival drama, but behind the scenes, it sounds like the cast and crew were having a pretty good time.
