In June 2012, Elba portrayed Captain Janek in Ridley Scott's Prometheus. However, Stormzy’s world is actually a familiar one. His male colleagues, meanwhile, from Tom Hardy to Bradley Cooper, were met with much meatier analysis. Elba also starred alongside Abraham Attah in the film Beasts of No Nation which premiered in select theaters and on Netflix. Elba, in the right film, could be brilliant. [63] In 2019, Elba appears in Taylor Swift’s song "London Boy" from her seventh studio album Lover. [31], Elba's next film was Legacy (2010),[32] in which he portrayed a black ops soldier who returns to Brooklyn after a failed mission in Eastern Europe, where he has undertaken a journey looking for retribution. [86][87] Elba is an avid supporter of Arsenal F.C. He could kill you if he wanted to, but he also studied economics. And yet the role also felt consistent with what the public expected him to play: a mighty and corrupt West African warlord asking unspeakable things of his army of child guerrilla soldiers. Fans were accepting enough of his DJing, since Elba actually wasn’t actually half bad behind the decks, and in April he’d been called upon by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to DJ at their wedding, before impressing with a debut set at Coachella. Find out more, The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. The video has since been deleted, and it’s unlikely many will have been aware of the song’s existence. In 2001, Elba played Achilles in a stage production of Troilus and Cressida in New York City. Inexplicably, however, Elba looks positively uncool, wearing a boyish stripy T-shirt, which, paired with a white cap and an expression contorted by a strange, double-eyed wink, his mouth flopping agape, has him resembling a hapless, drunken sailor. [33] Filming took place in Puerto Rico and the movie was released in April 2010. He wasn’t ever going to host a Boiler Room, and Pitchfork still refused to cover any of his musical projects, but Elba had not disgraced himself. The intro of the song samples a snippet from an interview by Elba. In 2018, perhaps to make up for his lack of fulfilment on screen, Elba began to spread himself ever thinner across a range of projects. He opened a London cocktail bar called The Parrot, to which no one seems ever to have been. And somehow there had been a first season and no one had noticed. During the show he took a selfie of "the best team in the world" which included Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar. [56][57] He also featured on the remix of Ghanaian music group, VVIP's single "Selfie" together with Nigerian rapper Phyno released on 12 September 2014 and video released on YouTube on 11 April 2015. After all, Tom Hardy read a CBBC bedtime story and got away it, and Tom Hiddleston was forgiven for pretending he went out with Taylor Swift. In 2017, after Elba played a clever lawyer alongside Jessica Chastain in poker-game drama Molly’s Game, the producer Amy Pascal described him as “the best version of masculinity… maybe it’s the way he walks, like his legs are more powerful than anyone else, like he is gravity… it’s rare, undeniable, movie-star stuff.”. [91][92], On 16 March 2020, Elba announced that he had been diagnosed with COVID-19 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, of course, we’ve seen Elba impress audiences across such efforts as Luther, Beasts of No Nation and beyond. He was still six-foot-three and weighed 200 pounds. [76], Discovery Channel produced a documentary, Idris Elba: Fighter, chronicling Elba's 12-month kickboxing and mixed martial arts training[77] under Muay Thai coach Kieran Keddle,[78] culminating in Elba's first professional kickboxing fight—and win—against Lionel Graves, a younger, more experienced Dutch opponent, at London's York Hall. In August 2010, Elba signed up to portray the title character in a reboot of James Patterson's Alex Cross film franchise. On 2 July 2019, The Guardian published a story describing how writers Tori Allen-Martin and Sarah Henley claimed to have been removed from the production under what they described as questionable circumstances. #Merky Books launched with Stormzy’s first book, Rise Up, In 2017, he played Roland Deschain in the Stephen King film adaptation The Dark Tower,[43] and starred in Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut Molly's Game, alongside Jessica Chastain. [70], He had the idea to develop the music from his album Idris Elba Presents mi Mandela into a show, which ultimately resulted in a play called Tree that premiered at the Manchester International Festival in 2019. Idris Elba Will Star in Guillermo del Toro's "Pacific Rim" (Black Superhero Next? [96], In May 2007, Elba was selected as one of People's annual 100 Most Beautiful People in the World. “Idris, when he is acting, I don’t think he is content,” Guillermo Del Toro, who directed Elba as yet another military commander in Pacific Rim, told US GQ. In July 2018, he launched his record label, 7Wallace Music. Naturally, British GQ put Elba on the front of their 2013 Cool Issue, where he leans back over the handlebars of a personalised motorbike. [107], English actor, producer, DJ, rapper, and singer, (To access, enter the search parameter "Boasty" and select "Search by Keyword"), Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, Secretary of State for International Development, 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, List of awards and nominations received by Idris Elba, "Idris Elba on Prometheus, Learning to Box, and His Party House", "Idris Elba given Sierra Leone citizenship", "The Wire Cast and Crew: Idris Elba, Russell 'Stringer' Bell", "Emmy Nominations 2014 — Full List: 66th Primetime Emmys Nominees", "Idris Elba Set to Make Directorial Debut With, "Idris Elba (Driis) Releases New Music Video 'Secret Garden, "He often has fewer lines than anyone else but you still feel as though he has the bigger part, because he is luminous", "Idris Elba meets his Waterloo – in Ghana", "Life as a RocknRolla: meet the crafty Cockney Idris Elba", "Idris Elba Is New Alex Cross in Relaunched James Patterson Film Franchise", "Idris Elba to Star in Netflix Comedy Series 'Turn Up Charlie, "Idris Elba's 'Turn Up Charlie' Canceled By Netflix After One Season", "In the Long Run: Idris Elba's joyful portrait of community in 1980s Hackney", "Idris Elba and Columbus Short Interview, This Christmas", "Idris Elba And Beyonce To Play Married Couple In 'Obsessed, "Weekend Report: Moviegoers Fixate on 'Obsessed, "Idris Elba Confirmed For 'The Losers,' Zoe Saldana Playing Aisha", "Tyler Perry in, Idris Elba out of Alex Cross reboot: Producer explains why – EXCLUSIVE", "Idris Elba, Johnny Whitworth gear up for 'Ghost Rider 2, "Confirmed! He’d had it tough growing up. In 2014 he released the album Mi Mandela, inspired by his starring turn as the South African leader in Mandela: Long Road to Freedom, and then an the album John Loves Murdah, inspired by Luther. But he was effortlessly, ineffably cool. [40] He joined the cast of the film Pacific Rim (2013) in the role of Stacker Pentecost. “How Idris Elba Became the Coolest Man in Hollywood!” Although, just to make sure: they had Elba wearing a leather jacket, and in his hands were a pair of shades. Or – whisper it – perhaps this is where Elba belonged all along: with all of Hollywood’s regular dudes. He actually smoked. This page was last edited on 28 October 2020, at 08:12. Why was nobody handing him any decent roles? He credits The Stage with giving him his first big break, having seen an advertisement for a play in it; he auditioned and met his first agent while performing in the role. [71] However, authorship of the piece was disputed. {{#media.focal_point}}. [18] To support himself between roles in his early career, he worked in odd jobs including: tyre-fitting, cold-calling, and night shifts at Ford Dagenham. The following year, he co-directed and performed in the Mumford & Sons music video for "Lover of the Light".[54]. There’s no doubt Elba can be funny: just not with his own script. And so Elba’s rebellion continued quietly and unobtrusively. The work of Henry Scholfield. He made his directorial debut in 2018 with an adaptation of the 1992 novel Yardie by Victor Headley. [28][29] In 2008, he starred in the horror film Prom Night and the Guy Ritchie London gangster film RocknRolla. The coverline? [32] He starred in Dark Castle's adaptation of DC/Vertigo's The Losers, under the direction of Sylvain White, in the role of Roque, the second-in-command of a black-ops team out for revenge against a government that did them wrong. Mr Hudson also produced his album Idris Elba Presents mi Mandela, which was released in November 2014. It was as if he were trying to throw everything he had at the wall before figuring out what might stick. [62] Elba also appears in the “Boasty” music video, delivering his verse in a mansion that includes a film set. Who should play Catwoman and Penguin in Matt Reeves’ Batman movie? [22] Elba appeared in a six-episode story arc later in the 2009 season as well as the season finale. Idris Elba has had his fair share of women and was once labeled one the world’s most eligible bachelors. [5][6], Elba appeared in Ridley Scott's American Gangster (2007) and Prometheus (2012). [93] His wife, Sabrina Dhowre Elba, also tested positive for the disease. [20] He decided to move to New York City soon after. You have to be careful to not find yourself overstretched and not watered-down.”. The actor, who has for almost a decade, enjoyed one of Hollywood’s least turbulent careers, and maintained one of the industry’s sturdiest, most stylish reputations, has, since the beginning of this year, begun to raise a few eyebrows. [11], Elba was born on 6 September 1972[12] in Hackney, London,[13] the son of Winston, a Sierra Leonean man who worked at the Ford Dagenham plant, and Eve, a Ghanaian woman. In interviews, he began to quash questions about him being “the first black Bond” with irritated silence. Case in point: in March Elba hosted the Met Gala, and in May he hosted Saturday Night Live.   Draw/No contest Have something to tell us about this article? I want you to not expect what I do,” he told the Guardian. [90] Elba voiced support for a vote to remain in the European Union for the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. {{#media.media_details}} [67] Elba has collaborated with the UK Parliament in their efforts to eradicate Ebola from West Africa, working alongside the UK Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening in 2014. [48] He DJed at the 2007 NBA All Star parties at The Venetian and Ice House Lounge in Las Vegas. 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