British actor Idris Elba has revealed during a recent interview on the SmartLess podcast that he was turned off from the idea of playing James Bond when the conversation around his potential hiring became dominated by race.
“The Wire” and “Luther” actor has been linked as a potential candidate for the role for a decade or so, well before even Craig finally exited the part in 2021’s “No Time to Die”.
However, one limiting factor is his age, with Elba set to turn 51 in about three months. He’s sadly too old these days to take on the Bond role.
It was the backlash he experienced in regards to race, however, that saw him lose interest in being linked to the part, one he was excited to be considered for initially:
“The truth is, I was super complimented for a long time about this. I was like, ‘This is crazy!’ James Bond…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.
Essentially, it was a huge compliment that every corner of the world except for some corners, which we will not talk about, were really happy about the idea that I could be considered.
Those that weren’t happy about the idea made the whole thing disgusting and off-putting because it became about race. It became about nonsense and I got the brunt of it.”
As a result, he was put off the idea. Elba has spoken out publicly in the past about his frustrations with being labelled a ‘Black actor’ and in an interview with Esquire earlier this year revealed he stopped using that phrase in reference to himself.
Elba’s most recent role is as the star of the Apple TV+ thriller series “Hijack”, set to premiere Wednesday, June 28th.
