Idris Elba rode out horse allergy to shoot new western

Idris Elba's allergy to horses didn't stop him from saddling up for new movie Concrete Cowboys.

The upcoming film is inspired by Greg Neri's 2011 book Ghetto Cowboy, which follows 15-year-old Cole, who is taken to live with his estranged father Harp, as played by Elba, in North Philadelphia, where he discovers the city's urban cowboy subculture.

The movie is also inspired by the real-life Fletcher Street Stables, a black urban horsemanship community which has existed there for more than 100 years.

While the British star was excited to shoot the flick, he admitted in a new interview with The Sun that it meant he had to power through his equine allergy.

"The stables have been there for hundreds of years and have communities within them," Elba told the newspaper. "I'm allergic to horses but I really enjoyed learning how to ride and understanding how the people lived."

Stranger Things actor Caleb McLaughlin will take on the part of Cole, while the film will also feature Moonlight's Jharrel Jerome, Orange Is the New Black's Lorraine Toussaint, and The Chi actor Byron Bowers.

Ricky Staub makes his feature directorial debut on the movie, with Elba producing via his Green Door Pictures banner alongside Neri, Lee Daniels, and screenwriter Dan Walser.

A release date for Concrete Cowboys has not yet been announced.

Elba is also in the pre-production phases of Jeymes Samuel's directorial debut, The Harder They Fall, and George Miller's Three Thousand Years of Longing, also featuring Tilda Swinton.