British movie star, Idris Elba, has revealed that he was interested in playing James Bond; the lead character in the eponymous British fictional franchise, when the idea first started to circulate.
He, however, said that his interest in the role began to fade when “it became about racism.”
Idris disclosed this during a chat on the Smartless podcast co-hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Haves and Will Arnett.
The Hollywood actor admitted that rumours about him playing the role were exciting for him.
Elba said; “The truth is, I was super complemented for a long time about this [playing the James Bond role]. I was like, ‘This is crazy! James Bond?’
“We are all actors and we understand that role. It’s one of those coveted roles. Being asked to be James Bond was like, ‘Okay, you’ve sort of reached the pinnacle.’ That is one of those things the whole world has a vote in.
“It was a huge compliment that every corner of the world, except for some corners, which we will not talk about, were really happy about the idea that I could be considered. Those that weren’t happy about the idea made the whole thing disgusting because it became about race.”
