{"id":2450234,"date":"2026-06-08T17:37:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T17:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2450234"},"modified":"2026-06-08T17:37:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T17:37:52","slug":"idris-elba-never-imagined-a-realistic-world-where-a-black-actor-could-be-cast-as-james-bond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/idris-elba-never-imagined-a-realistic-world-where-a-black-actor-could-be-cast-as-james-bond\/","title":{"rendered":"Idris Elba never imagined a &#8216;realistic&#8217; world where a black actor could be cast as James Bond"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Idris Elba believes \u201cit\u2019s not a realistic thing\u201d for a black actor to play James Bond.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJames Bond was written how he was written for a reason. But I was complimented by it,\u201d Elba said in <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gq-magazine.co.uk\/article\/idris-elba-is-flying-solo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a new interview with British GQ<\/a> about the speculation around him playing <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/05\/30\/entertainment\/jacob-elordi-would-be-the-totally-wrong-choice-to-play-james-bond\/\">the next 007<\/a>, which he called \u201cnever legit\u201d and \u201calways just a rumor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd also, I think, in realistic terms, some markets just don\u2019t go for that,\u201d Elba, 53, continued.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>Idris Elba (seen above on the cover of British GQ Summer 2026 issue) said that \u201cit\u2019s not a realistic thing\u201d for a black actor to play James Bond. <span class=\"credit\">Fanny Latour-Lambert \/ GQ<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>Elba (pictured above) insisted audiences don\u2019t want to see a black man play 007. <span class=\"credit\">Fanny Latour-Lambert \/ GQ<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The \u201cMasters of the Universe\u201d star insisted that since the Bond franchise is \u201cbig all over the world,\u201d audiences won\u2019t want to watch a black man in the iconic role. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s not what they like in their culture,\u201d he added. \u201cPeriod.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elba also argued that making a big change to the James Bond character isn\u2019t necessary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBond is so unrealistic, so a hint of reality is good, but let\u2019s not try and make it woke,\u201d he explained. \u201cI think you\u2019ve got to be pure to what it is: escapism. Don\u2019t try and answer the world\u2019s taste. Just be Bond.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>\u201cIn realistic terms, some markets just don\u2019t go for that,\u201d Elba stated. <span class=\"credit\">Fanny Latour-Lambert \/ GQ<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>Elba (pictured above in \u201cMasters of the Universe\u201d) also argued that the next James Bond doesn\u2019t need to be \u201cwoke.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">Amazon MGM Studios via AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Elba was more open to the idea of playing James Bond when the casting speculation began back in 2015.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf human beings want to know if there\u2019s any connectivity between all of us, the one thing I\u2019ve heard around the world universally is that, \u2018You\u2019ll be great at James Bond,&#8217;\u201d he <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2015\/film\/news\/idris-elba-james-bond-fans-daniel-craig-007-1201584307\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told Variety<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Elba added, \u201cIf it should happen, that\u2019s proof there\u2019s connectivity amongst human beings. If everyone wants something, they can make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>He told British GQ, \u201cDon\u2019t try and answer the world\u2019s taste. Just be Bond\u201d (Elba is seen above at the \u201cMasters of the Universe\u201d premiere in Los Angeles on May 18). <span class=\"credit\">REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>Elba also said the speculation about him playing James Bond was \u201cnever legit\u201d and \u201calways just a rumor\u201d (Daniel Craig is seen above in the 2006 James Bond movie \u201cCasino Royale\u201d). <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Sony Pictures\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Come 2023, Elba said on the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/idris-elba\/id1521578868?i=1000618202085\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cSmartLess\u201d\u00a0podcast<\/a> that while he was \u201csuper complimented\u201d by the Bond rumors, he got a bad taste in his mouth <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/06\/28\/idris-elba-over-the-idea-of-playing-james-bond-it-became-about-race\/\">because of the racial backlash he received<\/a> over the possible role.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose that weren\u2019t happy about the idea made the whole thing disgusting and off-putting, because it became about race,\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt became about nonsense, and I got the brunt of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>Elba said in 2023 that he wasn\u2019t interested in playing Bond because of the racial backlash he received over the possible role (Roger Moore is seen above in the 1983 James Bond movie \u201cOctopussy\u201d). <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9United Artists\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>Amazon, which now owns the Bond franchise, is still searching for the next actor to play 007 (Michelle Yeoh and Pierce Brosnan are seen above in 1997\u2019s \u201cTomorrow Never Dies\u201d). <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9United Artists\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Daniel Craig was the latest actor to play James Bond, having <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/12\/11\/entertainment\/daniel-craig-reveals-why-he-enjoys-acting-more-since-quitting-james-bond\/\">retired from the franchise<\/a> after 2021\u2019s \u201cNo Time to Die.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sean Connery,\u00a0George Lazenby,\u00a0Roger Moore,\u00a0Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan all played Bond before that.<\/p>\n<p>Amazon\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/02\/20\/entertainment\/amazons-takeover-of-james-bond-will-be-the-death-of-an-iconic-brand\/\">took over control of the Bond franchise<\/a>\u00a0from longtime producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson last year and is <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/09\/25\/entertainment\/new-james-bond-casting-details-revealed\/\">now searching for the right person to star in the next 007 movie<\/a>, which will be helmed by \u201cDune: Part Three\u201d\u00a0director Denis Villeneuve.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0Aaron-Taylor Johnson, Henry Cavill, Jacob Elordi, Callum Turner and Theo James <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/04\/17\/entertainment\/who-could-be-next-james-bond-amid-amazon-shakeups-experts\/\">are among the rumored actors <\/a>to take over the role.<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/tv\/2019\/05\/29\/idris-elba-luther-season-5\/\"\/><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source pagesix.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Idris Elba believes \u201cit\u2019s not a realistic thing\u201d for a black actor to play James Bond. \u201cJames Bond was written how he was written for a reason. But I was complimented by it,\u201d Elba said in a new interview with British GQ about the speculation around him playing the next 007, which he called \u201cnever [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2450235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25177],"tags":[462541,25538,24003,21741,344754,315031,21912,399161],"class_list":["post-2450234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrities","tag-462541","tag-actors","tag-celebrity-news","tag-entertainment","tag-idris-elba","tag-james-bond","tag-movies","tag-race"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Idris-Elba-never-imagined-a-realistic-world-where-a-black.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2450234"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2450236,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450234\/revisions\/2450236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2450235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2450234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2450234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2450234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}