Idris Elba says he’s been put off playing James Bond

It seems like every week there's some rumour that Idris Elba will become the next James Bond.

I mean, virtually every top actor in the world is linked with the iconic role at some point or another.

But time and time again, it all comes back to the Luther star as the obvious choice to take over from Daniel Craig.

Even Toy Story's Tom Hanks came out recently and said that he was the perfect choice.

"Understand this," he told the BBC. "James Bond has a licence to kill. I would issue that licence to Idris Elba just based on the work that I've seen him do."

Netflix

And speaking to Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett on the SmartLess podcast, Elba opened up about the rumours and how he felt when his name was brought up.

But while he admitted that it was nice to be linked with the part, the 50-year-old said he 'got burnt out'.

"The truth is, I was super complimented for a long time about this," Elba said.

“James Bond... It’s one of those coveted [roles].

“Being asked to be James Bond was like ‘OK, you’ve sort of reached the pinnacle’.

"That’s one of those things the whole world has a vote in.

“Essentially, it was a huge compliment that every corner of the world except from some corners, which we will not talk about, were really happy about the idea that I could be considered.

Netlfix

“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.”

His comments are the latest in a long line of interviews Elba has done where he's had to address the subject.

Speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai ahead of the release of Luther film The Fallen Sun, the actor said he took himself out of the running to play Bond, implying he's simply too invested in his current detective role.

Elba said: "We've been working on the television show for about 10 years and so the natural ambition is to take it to the big screen, and so we're here with the first movie.

"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.”

Topics: Daniel Craig, Idris Elba, James Bond, TV and Film, UK News, US News, Celebrity

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers is LADbible's Editorial Lead. After graduating from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History, he went on to write for the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express. So as you can imagine, he’s spent many a night wondering just how useful that second language has been. But c'est la vie.

@SmithersDom