Idris Elba said he was “put off” playing James Bond after taking the brunt of a racist backlash.
The 50-year-old was one of the frontrunners to replace Daniel Craig in the hugely successful spy franchise, following the actor’s final appearance as 007 in 2021’s No Time to Die, which saw Bond sacrifice his life to save the world.
Since then, Idris has been the name on everyone's lips as the favourite to take over the iconic role, but he has refused to reveal if he’s been in talks with movie producers.
In a new interview on the SmartLess podcast, the Luther star said he was “super complimented” to be considered by many as perfect for the role of James Bond, and said it was the “pinnacle” of his career.
“The truth is, I was super complimented for a long time about this. I was like, ‘This is crazy!’ Because James Bond… We’re all actors and we understand that role. It’s one of those coveted [roles],” Idris explained.
But he admitted he was put off even considering the role after “some corners of the world” were unhappy about the idea of Idris playing Bond.
“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,” he fumed.
The British actor was one of the names suggested for the 007 role, along with James Norton, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Richard Madden, Henry Golding, Jamie Dornan and Bridgerton actor Regé-Jean Page.
Earlier this year, Idris addressed the rumours, and ruled himself out of playing the suave super spy.
“You know, a lot of people talk about another character that begins with ‘J’ and ends with ‘B,’ but I’m not going to be that guy. I’m going to be John Luther. That’s who I am,” he told the World Government Summit in Dubai.
Happy Valley star James recently shot down reports he had been offered the role, and said there had been “no conversations” with producers, or movie bosses.
"Basically nothing else to say other than I think they’re probably still working it all out. It’s a big challenge to know which direction to take that huge franchise in,” he told Variety.
“But beyond that, it’s lots of quite fun and bemusing media coverage. There’s nothing concrete behind it,” James laughed.
