India McTaggart
Sir Idris Elba has urged James Bond’s new bodyguards not to “wake up” the spy.
The Golden Globe winner, who was a front-runner to replace Daniel Craig, said that 007 needed to remain “unreal” and that audiences would not welcome a black actor.
In interview with GQ As for who could play the role, with casting officially underway, Elba said: “Bond is unrealistic, so a hint of reality is good, but let’s not try to make it rise.”
“I think you should be pure for what it is: an escape. Don’t try to answer the taste of the world. Be Bond.”
He also addressed rumors that he might replace Craig after the actor’s 15-year stint as the suave spy, which ended with the film. No Time to Die in 2021.
“I always felt that it wasn’t real,” Elba said, adding: “James Bond was written the way he was for a reason.” But I was praised for it.
“And also, I think, in reality, some markets don’t go for it. Bond is huge worldwide. And (audiences) won’t accept (all) a black man, an African man, playing Bond. That’s not what they like in their culture. Period.”
He made the comments less than a month after Amazon MGM Studios confirmed that production on the new 007 had begun.
After years of speculation about who might take on the role, the studio said: “While we do not plan to comment on specifics during the casting process, we are excited to share more information with 007 fans as soon as the time is right.”
The studio has enlisted the help of Nina Gold, a British acting veteran who was nominated for an Oscar for her work in the film. Hamnet. He is also known for his work Game of thrones, Crown and Fox Day.
Elba has previously admitted that the racist backlash at the prospect of him being cast as Ian Fleming’s spy “made the whole thing a little bit off-putting”.
He told them SmartLess podcast in 2023 that for some, it “became about race and nonsense”, adding that he “found his load”.
The actor has recently turned his attention to tackling London’s knife crime problem, alongside his charity work to help young people, for which he was honored by the King at Windsor Castle earlier this month.
In an interview, Elba explained how he became involved in the campaign against knife crime, saying: “Listening to the reports every day – it was hopeless.”
“It was almost, if I was a teenager, like, ‘Bruh, I could carry a knife, and nobody would know. I could stab somebody, and nobody would know.’ Because it seemed hopeless.
“I said to myself, ‘Well, I’m going to stand on a soap box Graham Norton all day talking about things, wearing a t-shirt and everyone wants to buy, whatever it is, and I must say something’.
“I have children. If anything happened to my children I would be devastated. That’s what it was. It wasn’t like ‘I want to campaign’. It was, ‘Is nobody going to say anything?’
Build skills and confidence
In May, Elba joined a star-studded party to mark the 50th anniversary of the King’s Patronage at Buckingham Palace.
His Majesty’s trust works with the Elba Hope Foundation, a charity founded by Elba and his wife, Sabrina Elba, to provide free courses designed to inspire young people across the UK to build the skills and confidence to work in the creative industries.
Speaking of being named a “hero” soon GQ version, Elba said: “I’m an actor who has all these expectations. I struggle with it, a little bit. The role, accepting it, like, ‘Yes! I’m a superhero! I’m a role model!’ I am not. I’m not perfect, by any means.”
The The kidnapper The star added: “That line, the peak, is difficult to maintain: you are a hero, or you are not – what is it? And I sit in the middle. I never rushed to be a hero. Or rushed to be a kind of public hero – that’s not what I’m after.”
Issue of British Heroes GQ it’s out now.
Telegraph, London
