Written By Kieran Bugg • U.K. Editor
Idris Elba revealed he was turned off on possibly being the next James Bond with the focus on his skin color. Immediately after Daniel Craig announced his retirement from the 007 franchise, the whole world was asking the same question: Who will be the next actor to play James Bond?
As it stands, there are only a handful of potential candidates who are reportedly in the running for the role.
The most prominent names being: Henry Cavill, Tom Hardy, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Paapa Essiedu, and James Norton. We previously reported on this.
In addition, another top choice to take on the iconic character is legendary British actor Idris Elba. Idris Elba is likely best known for various his roles in several blockbuster movies like: Thor: Ragnarök, The Jungle Book (2016), Sonic The Hedgehog 2, and Hobbs & Shaw.
Moreover, Idris Elba is also famous for his leading role as DCI John Luther in the BBC’s hit series Luther. Originally, Elba was honored to be considered for the role as one of cinema’s greatest heroes.
Nonetheless, he’s recently distanced himself from this promising fan cast due to racism from naysayers. With that, the topic of Idris Elba’s chances of becoming James Bond sadly became about race.
Idris Elba Became Disgusted By Race Focus For James Bond Role
Image: Warner Bros. Discovery
The actor opened up on this issue:
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 from 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.
Furthermore, the actor has even revealed that he’s stopped describing himself as a Black actor following this.
Idris Elba Became Disgusted By Race Focus For James Bond Role
Image: MGM Studios
He continued:
As humans, we are obsessed with race and that obsession can really hinder people’s aspirations, hinder people’s 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. I stopped describing myself as a Black actor when I realized it put me in a box, we’ve got to grow. We’ve got to. Our skin is no more than that: it’s just skin. Rant over.
Without a doubt, Elba as Bond would have been a game changer.
Race change or not, there’s always controversy whenever a character is recast. No matter what.
Now we can only imagine what could’ve been.