After acting in countless Black roles, Idris Elba has decided to stop calling himself a “Black actor.”
In a February 8 interview with Esquire UK Magazine, the 50-year-old actor, born Idrissa Akuna Elba in London from a Sierra Leonean father and Ghanaian mother, revealed that his body of work dictated that he remove the racial label from his repertoire because it limited his career.
He also said human beings “were obsessed with race.”
“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.”
About being labeled as a Black actor, Idris said, “Of course, I’m a member of the Black community.”
He further explained, “You say a prominent one. But when I go to America, I’m a prominent member of the British community. ‘Oh, U.K.’s in the house!’ If we spent half the time not talking about the differences but the similarities between us, the entire planet would have a shift in the way we deal with each other.”
Idris also expressed that he didn’t become an actor because of the lack of representation in the industry. He expounded that firsts would be the same if he were white.
“I didn’t become an actor because I didn’t see Black people doing it and I wanted to change that. I did it because I thought that’s a great profession and I could do a good job at it. As you get up the ladder, you get asked what it’s like to be the first Black to do this or that. Well, it’s the same as it would be if I were white. It’s the first time for me. I don’t want to be the first Black. I’m the first Idris.”
This new ni**a rhetoric is a different tune from what Idris said in 2016 while discussing the lack of diverse roles for Black actors on British television.
“When you don’t reflect the real world, too much talent is actually trashed. Now, talent is everywhere, but opportunity isn’t. Talent can’t reach opportunity unaided, especially on our small island. That’s why Britain– British talent gets exported all over the world.”
In a nutshell, the Black actor couldn’t eat in his native country– so he left for the land of opportunity to make it. Because Black folks in Hollywood fare better than in London.
The British actor seemingly contradicted himself in the Esquire UK interview as he disclosed that he couldn’t be his authentic Black self while acting in England. His statement high-key gave the white Brit’s water was colder as he compared “highbrow” works “outside” of his culture when he worked across the pond.
“In England, I did a TV thing for kids and then a soap opera. But unless I was doing Shakespeare or one of these highbrow things that are outside of my actual culture, I wasn’t going to elevate in this country as an actor,” Idris said. “In America, it felt like the sky was the limit. You didn’t have to do Shakespeare to be a good actor. I found it really freeing.”
While Idris has decided to stop calling himself a “Black actor,” his breakout role was the very Black character Stringer Bell in HBO’s acclaimed series The Wire.
His latest non-Black project, Luther Fallen Sun, is set to air on February 24 on Netflix.
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