The 41 year-old actor talks about going from playing such an iconic man to being offered roles that "anyone can play."
Earlier this year Idris Elba saw the release of probably the most important film he may ever star in, the British star portrayed the late president of South African, Nelson Mandela, in a biopic tiled 'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom' and demonstrated how great of an actor he really is.
Elba has been "disappointed" with his roles following 'Mandela'
However, even though Elba received a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Mandela, and has had a very successful television career as the star of the crime drama 'Luther,' he still seems to attract roles that just aren't meeting his creative needs.
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"You know, I'd just played this iconic human being, and the scripts I got afterward were sort of...disappointing,' the 41 year-old told Detail magazine. "Look, I know that I work a lot, but I'd prefer to wait sometimes because I don't want to just do rubbish films anymore or characters that anyone can play."
Elba is known for his acting, but many fans don't realize that music is also one of his passions, as well as being a resident DJ in Ibiza over the summer, 'The Wire' star told the mag that he and his co-stars of the HBO series would often record some rapping songs.
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"Me and Wood Harris, who played Avon, and Hassan Johnson, who played Wee Bey, we'd book out a studio and make records of us rapping," he said. "I'd make the beats and chords - just fun, freestyle stuff."
Elba used to record rap songs with his 'The Wire' co-stars
Although Elba is considered a legitimate Hollywood star, one other surprising thing he revealed in the interview is that he claims people don't easily recognize him.
"I've been that guy for a while, where people recognize me but they're not sure why, I'd done a lot of popcorn films, but the reinvention came when I decided to do more of the character-driven stuff that won't be seen by as many people. But it makes people start to realize, 'Wait a second, this guy is that guy,'" he explained.
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