The BV Q&A: Idris Elba
By Andrea Duncan-Mao, Special to AOL BlackVoices
Emerging out of his New Jersey crash pad casually outfitted in a Yankee cap, baggy jeans and Timberlands and flashing a disarming smile, British actor Idris Elba bares little resemblance to Stringer Bell, the unflappable, designer suit-wearing drug impresario he played so convincingly on HBO's 'The Wire.' "People see me and expect me to be all suited up and serious," he says amusedly in his thick, East London accent, "but this is me."
In the shocking, penultimate episode of 'The Wire,' Elba’s stoic character was gunned down in a hail of bullets by longtime foes. Although he may not be clocking in as Stringer Bell anymore, Elba has a number of plans in the works. Passionate about acting ("I’m a nerd actor, I watch everything") and music (under the moniker DJ Big Driis, he has a burgeoning music career), Elba plans to branch out beyond television and into film. In January, he headed to Belfast, Ireland, to shoot 'Johnny Was,' a film about a former IRA member who falls in love with a gangster's girlfriend (Elba plays the gangster). 'Sometimes in April,' an HBO film about the Rwandan genocide, which is also his first leading role, comes out in March. He's also making appearances on UPN's 'Girlfriends' and the new Fox show 'Johnny Zero.'
'Dris, who has been acting since his teens, sat down and spoke to BlackVoices about the challenges of being a black actor, the complexities of Stringer Bell, why he doesn't watch 'The Wire' and how DJ-ing saved his life.
What is a role that really inspired you when you were coming up?
The most influential role was on 'Homicide.' Andre Braugher played this hard-nosed detective that was extremely eloquent and his acting style was like none I’ve ever seen before, ever. Here was a dark-skinned, charismatic actor, holding scenes, holding mad close-ups. He had me blown away. And it turns out that 'The Wire' was created by the same team. So that's kinda funny.
You've worked both in the UK and here. Do black actors face the same challenges across the pond?
Yes, more so -- it's heightened. Because there is less work and the competition is fierce. Actors are very good there, and we're all going up for the same roles. There was one period when I was on the audition circuit and I would see the same 10 actors all the time. That's why I moved to the States; compared to the UK, there's an abundance of work here.
What kind of culture shock did you experience when you moved to New York?
When you come out here for two or three months, you got money, you’re buying the fly [expletive], blasé blah. But when you live here, that [expletive] just wears out real fast, and it's like, [expletive] is expensive. When you're not spending those pounds and you're making them dollars? Yo, the brand new, bright yellow Avirex, you're not buying that this time. [Laughs.] But that was good for me, you know, because I needed that. I will always consider New York my home, because it's where I learned to cut my teeth. When things went bad, and my savings was running out, if it wasn't for me DJ-ing at those little clubs and bars in downtown New York I would have been flat-ass broke and heading straight back to London. So my music saved my life in a sense.
How did the part of Stringer Bell come about?
I was reading for a part in the movie 'Brown Sugar' and that went to someone else, but [the casting director] was working on another script, and she was like, "there's a character I think you might be interested in." And it was actually the role of Avon Barksdale. After like the third audition, they were like, it's going to go elsewhere, but there's someone else -- his man, Stringer. In the pilot version Stringer didn’t have much to say. But even in the pilot he had a presence. And truth be known, I was not as confident about my American accent as I am now anyway. So I was like, I can be in it and I can just be the silent type! He wasn't even supposed to be around for three seasons, but the marriage between the writers and me as an actor was organic.
How did you prepare for the role?
In all honesty, the script has the nuts and bolts of Stringer down pat. And, what you see now is a hybrid of good writing and how I interpret it. [Drug dealing] is so celebrated [here] from the records, to the lifestyle, everyone's like, drug dealers, drug dealers. In England, drug dealers weren't driving sports cars or wearing gold watches, they don't move that way. You have to be much more stealth than that, because you don't want to be a black man in a jail out there, period. So I was just more familiar with the silent, money-conscious, business-conscious drug dealers, because that’s how n****s move in England. So Stringer is atypical for an American character, I was like, wow, this is kinda cool, I can relate to it.
I always thought, oh, Avon's character is going to be more popular than mine because he's that gangsta. But I tell you, I can go in any hood, and the hardest of dudes is like, "Yo, dun, you saved my life. You need to talk to Avon, man he's too hard-headed."
You’ve said you don't watch 'The Wire,' or any of your other work. Why is that?
I'm so self-critical, I criticize myself so much that it just becomes torturous. I'll sit down and just be like, "uh, ooh, uh, ow." When I've just finished 'The Wire' [or even when] I’m shooting it, I can’t really watch it. I'm about to go see a screening of 'Sometimes in April,' and I'm super nervous.
What kind of roles are you looking forward to playing?
I like being part of an ensemble cast, playing the everyman character, playing roles that challenge my physical appearance. As far as leading roles, I'd love to tell the story of the African Moors, who were soldiers for hire, in a sense. They used to ride on horseback in tribes and roll in to town like pirates. I already have my production company and I've always got an eye out for how I can bring my goods to the table. I think it's important for actors coming up in the game to grasp on to that concept. Our white counterparts have been doing it forever and ever. Some of these actors, their first film is often co-produced by them. We don't have the same opportunities perhaps, but it's up to us to create our own opportunities, and say, 'I’m going to do something a little different.'
Dec. 13. 2004