AS one of the more prominent British actors that used to be in the running for the role of James Bond, rumours have long followed Idris Elba on whether he would clinch the role.
However, during an interview on the SmartLess podcast, Elba revealed that he got turned off by the idea of playing the MI6 agent when the conversation became dominated by race, such as when author Anthony Horowitz wrote that Elba was “too street” to play Bond.
“The truth is, I was super complimented for a long time about this,” Elba said about originally embracing the idea of playing Bond.
“I was like, ‘This is crazy!’ We’re all actors, and we understand that role. It’s one of those coveted roles. Being asked to be James Bond was like, ‘Ok, you’ve sort of reached the pinnacle’. That’s one of those things the whole world has a vote in.”
Elba further pointed out that, despite it being a compliment from most corners of the world, certain corners were not happy about the idea that he was considered.
This made the whole thing “disgusting and off-putting” for the actor.
Once the conversation about Elba becoming Bond became dominated by the topic of race, he cooled on the idea of headlining the 007 franchise.
The actor has spoken out publicly in the past about his frustrations with being labelled a “Black actor.”
“I stopped describing myself as a Black actor when I realised it put me in a box,” the actor told Esquire U.K. in a February interview.
“As humans, we are obsessed with race, and that obsession can really hinder people’s aspirations and growth. Racism should be a topic for discussion, sure. Racism is very real. But from my perspective, it’s only as powerful as you allow it to be.”
“We’ve got to grow. We have to. Our skin is no more than that; it’s just skin. Rant over.”