On His Role As Nelson Mandela: Though Winston was pleased that his son had found work doing what he loved, he was never much impressed by Elba’s turns in Luther and the others. But the day Elba told his dad he’d be playing Nelson Mandela, Winston wept. “I cannot believe my son has been asked to play that great man,” Elba recalls his father saying.
On his The Wire character Stringer Bell:“Where I grew up, gangsters had to be smart. That whole flashy thing—no, mate. It was suits and smiles. I said, ‘That’s how I’m going to make Stringer.’”
On how his father’s death affected him: His father who was a smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer that year.“I got to a place where I wasn’t even living anymore. I was becoming a robot with my work. I have no fear of jumping out of burning cars or out of buildings on set, but in reality, I couldn’t run one hundred meters. I just felt out of touch with reality.”
On His Nearest Future Roles: This November, he’s reprising his role as Thor’s right-hand man in November’s Thor: Ragnarok. In Molly’s Game, he stars opposite Jessica Chastain, whose character is busted for running an illegal high-stakes poker game. Meanwhile, the risk taking continues unabated: He’s about to start production on a thriller called Yardie, which will mark his directorial debut.
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Photo Credit: Victor Demarchelier for Esquire
