In some countries, no one knows who Idris Elba is.
My definition of bad-ass is that I’m a force of nature and true spirit. I’m self-admitting that, and it sounds vain to say that, but I am.
I tend to stay away from the comics.
Nobody likes a celebrity DJ for the sake of style, so I don’t do that – I try to be good at what I do. It’s all about resetting, it’s my escape. It is work, it’s a job, but I just love doing it.
I’ll always be attached to telly in one way or another, whether it’s a character or producer or director, I just love the medium.
I watch my daughter wanting to be like other kids and getting upset that she’s not. But I always try and instill in her the idea that she’s perfect as she is.
Television, for me, is a medium that I’m probably always going to be attached to, one way or another.
The long and short of it is that I am now in a position in England to green light movies, and that’s really excellent – not high-budget movies, but movies none the less.
I’ve always been DJing; it’s just I’m making more of a push for it, making it more public.
If I was gonna go to jail, I don’t want to go to jail for stealing a bottle of water. I’ll steal that $20 million. At least then it was worth it.
It could be Grammy night, Oscar night, whatever – I don’t feel the pressure to be there.
There has been a big debate about it: can a black man play a Nordic character?
Bond? It is a bit like saying, ‘Do you want to play Superman?’ Anyone would dream of it. It’s one of the most coveted roles in film. I’d be honoured. But I don’t know if it will actually happen. I’m just happy with the idea of being associated with it. It’s nice there’s a lot of good will.
I was in The Wire for three years, and I left at the highlight of that.
I think ‘The Wire’ really is relatable. It reflects an ongoing issue across America, about inaccuracies in major cities between rich and the poor and some of the things that go on behind the red tape of council and government bodies.
There’s the argument that you can relate to someone who’s completely unrelatable. In the way that a director shows you his imagination on a film, then I get to show you my imagination in a big dumb character.
It’s really funny because the same people who loved me as Stringer Bell were the same people that were watching ‘Daddy’s Little Girls’ literally in tears.
You know, film is the ultimate goal in an actor’s career. I mean, I still love TV. I have my feet firmly stamped in it. But my opportunities have been bigger and better.
Because I was big, I didn’t have to listen to anyone doubting me. I was just considered good at football or whatever, there were no questions about it.
The only thing I change mainly is my sneakers. I love sneakers. But everything’s sort of black or jeans. Jeans, always.
White actors still get way more money in Hollywood. It’s been that way for a very long time. I hope it’ll change, but it’s a matter of forcing that change.