Idris Elba felt like he "wasn't even living anymore" after his father's death

He told the August issue of Esquire magazine: "I got to a place where I wasn't even living anymore. I was becoming a robot with my work.

"I have no fear of jumping out of burning cars or out of buildings on set, but in reality, I couldn't run one hundred metres. I just felt out of touch with reality."

Idris has a close bond with his parents and previously revealed his mother Eve was less than impressed with his decision to try his hand at kickboxing for a new TV documentary.

He shared: "She was really worried. She came to my first amateur fight and it was pretty harrowing for her. I had quite a lot of friends and family there and they couldn't believe what I was doing. I drew that fight, but I got knocked down in the third round by a pretty brutal uppercut. But my mum was the only one of my family who was like, 'This is silly'.

"In between rounds, when it was quiet, I heard my mum saying, 'Drink some water, don't let him kick you in the head, what are you doing this for? Do you need your asthma inhaler?' I was like, 'Mum, please be quiet.'"

Meanwhile, Idris previously confessed he is worried about burning out.

He said: "It's unhealthy to have that much going on. I don't want to sound ungrateful or anything, but I sleep less, I'm constantly thinking, I'm constantly multitasking, and I really don't know what the effects are going to be when I'm older ...

"I do worry sometimes about whether I'm going to burn out. Not burn myself out, but burn my art out, with audiences going, 'Ah, yeah, I've seen enough now, thanks very much.'"