Idris Elba Further Explains Not Being A ‘Black Actor’ Comments
Idris Elba is further explaining his comments about no longer wanting to describe himself as a “Black actor.”
On Saturday (Feb. 11) the actor headed to his Twitter and said that "there isn't a soul on this earth that can question whether I consider myself a BLACK MAN or not."
"Being an 'actor' is a profession, like being an 'architect,' they are not defined by race," he continued. "However, if YOU define your work by your race, that is your prerogative. Ah, lie?"
In case you missed it, Elba addressed the racism that he experienced in his career and noted he had “stopped describing myself as a Black actor when I realized it put me in a box” in his feature for the spring 2023 issue of Esquire UK.
"We've got to grow. We've got to. Our skin is no more than that: it's just skin," he also mentioned.
He also shared in the Esquire UK profile that he didn't "become an actor because I didn't see Black people doing it and I wanted to change that," but chose to become an actor because he was intrigued by the profession.
"As you get up the ladder, you get asked what it's like to be the first Black to do this or that," Elba said. "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."
In other news Elba will star in Luther: The Fallen Sun, the film continuation of the BBC One series, which premieres on Netflix on Feb. 24. In the movie, he will reprise his role as DCI John Luther, who breaks out of prison to handle unfinished business.
