English actor, Idrissa Akuna Elba OBE, distinctly known as Idris has revealed that, immulating ‘iconic’ British actor, James Bond role could put him in a ‘difficult position’ as first black 007, as the latter is a “hugely coveted, beloved character”. but he’d be wary of the reaction if he ever got the part.
The Luther star, 46, has been repeatedly tipped to take over from Daniel Craig, with franchise producer Barbara Broccoli saying that she felt that a black actor in the role “will happen eventually”. But Elba admits accepting the role would put him in a “difficult position” — fearing the reaction to his performance would be based on his ethnicity.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Elba said: “James Bond is a hugely coveted, iconic, beloved character, that takes audiences on this massive escapism journey.
“Of course, if someone said to me, ‘Do you want to play James Bond?’ I’d be like, ‘Yeah!’ That’s fascinating to me. But it’s not something I’ve expressed, like, ‘Yeah, I wanna be the black James Bond’. You just get disheartened when you get people from a generational point of view going, ‘It can’t be’. And it really turns out to be the colour of my skin.
“Then if I get it and it didn’t work, or it did work, would it be because of the colour of my skin? That’s a difficult position to put myself into when I don’t need to.” He stated
Craig, who is filming Bond 25 in Jamaica, says it will be his last film in the role. Bodyguard star Richard Madden is the favourite to replace him, ahead of Elba and Tom Hiddleston. Elba has previously suggested he might not be right for Bond because he wants to be known for a variety of roles. But in August, he jokingly tweeted a selfie with the tagline “My name’s Elba. Idris Elba” and then posted a selfie with Craig.
In the Vanity Fair interview, Elba also told how he discovered a young, black fanbase while playing sentry Heimdall in Marvel’s Thor trilogy and Avengers series. He said: “Suddenly you realise that black kids read comics. That whole skater, fanboy crowd — well, black people love these things too.”
Hackney-born Elba married his girlfriend Sabrina Dhowre in Marrakech in April.
