According to Idris Elba, the public does not want a black James Bond

The British actor explains that he was never a serious candidate for the role and that Bond should not be “woke”.

After playing Heimdall in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Idris Elba is starring in Masters of the Universe (which will not be released in cinemas in France), where he plays Duncan the Armsmaster, He-Man’s faithful sidekick. Two characters who have the particularity of being white in the original material.

Sir Elba (he was recently knighted by Charles III) has also long been considered to play an even more iconic character, James Bond. But, in an interview with the British version of GQthe actor of The Wire believes that 007 should not change color.

“It was never serious. It was just a rumor. I always thought that was unrealistic. James Bond was written the way he was written for a reason. But I took it as a compliment. Furthermore, we have to be realistic, some markets don’t want that. Bond is huge around the world. And the public doesn’t want a black man, an African man, to play Bond. They don’t want that in their culture. Period.”

The Elba track was born in 2008, when Daniel Craig declared, after the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States, that the public was now ready for a black Bond: “I think the character could easily be played by a black actor, because the character created by Ian Flemming in the 1950s has evolved tremendously, and continues to be updated.”

But, more than 20 years later, changing the skin color or gender of a famous fictional character in the name of inclusiveness has become a real point of friction for part of the public. And according to Idris Elba, it would be a mistake to try it with James Bond.

“Bond is so romantic, it’s nice to give him a little realism, but let’s not try to make him woke. You have to stay true to its essence: escape. Let’s not start making it fit the zeitgeist. Let him just be Bond.”

Now aged 53, Elba is too old for the role anyway, while Amazon MGM, the new rights holder, is seeking to drastically make 007 younger. The next James Bond (which will be directed by Denis Villeneuve) should be around twenty years old, and the favorites are Jacob Elordi, Callum Turner, Harris Dickinson and Louis Partridge.