Idris Elba hit back after facing massive criticism last month for revealing that he no longer describes himself as a “black actor”.
The 50-year-old Luther star, of Ghanaian and Sierra Leonean Creole descent, sparked a backlash on social media when he detailed how he thought he got the label ‘black actor’ him in a ‘box’, and that an ‘obsession’ with race can hinder aspirations and growth.
He said Don: ‘We have to grow up. We have to do it. Our skin is nothing more than that: it is just skin. Rant about.’
He added: ”Racism is very real. But from my perspective, it’s only as powerful as you let it be.
Now the actor has doubled down on his comments in a new interview with the guardiancriticizing fans who accused him of ‘denying his blackness’ with his controversial comments.
Comments: Idris Elba hit back after facing massive criticism last month for revealing he no longer describes himself as a ‘black actor’ (pictured March 1)
He said: ‘Me saying I don’t like to call myself a black actor is my prerogative. That’s me, not you. So for you to turn around and tell me, I’m “denying my blackness.”
‘For what reasons? Did you find out what? Where am I denying it? And for what? It’s just stupid. Whatever.’
In his February interview, The Wire star went on to say that while he is a member of the black community, he doesn’t put any emphasis on this when it comes to his career.
Idris explained to the publication that his choice to be an actor was not due to a lack of diversity in the profession, but because it was a career in which he felt he would thrive.
“As you walk up the ladder, they ask you what it’s like to be the first black to do this or that,” he continued.
‘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 am the first Idris.
About three days after the interview was published, the Luther star decided to take to Twitter and elaborate on his quote, while making sure everyone knows that he is a proud black man.
“There is not a soul on this earth that can question whether or not I consider myself a BLACK MAN,” he began in the tweet, adding: “Being an ‘actor’ is a profession, just like being an ‘architect’.” they are not defined by race. However, if YOU define your job by your race, that is your Perogative. Oh lie?’
He said: ‘Me saying I don’t like to call myself a black actor is my prerogative. That’s me, not you. So for you to turn around and tell me, I’m “denying my blackness.” ‘For what reasons? Did he find out that he? Where am I denying it? (Pictured by Luther)
Interview: The 50-year-old Luther star, of Ghanaian and Sierra Leonean Creole descent, sparked a backlash on social media when he detailed how he thought the black actor label put him in a “box” and that an “obsession” with race can hinder aspirations and growth (pictured May 2022)
Race and acting: “Being an ‘actor’ is a profession, like being an ‘architect’, they are not defined by race,” he shared on Twitter
In 2020, Idris revealed that he experiences racism “as often as breathing.”
Speaking during a livestreamed discussion about the Black Lives Matter movement, the actor said: “Success hasn’t negated racism for me. Asking me about racism is like asking me how long I’ve been breathing.’
The actor recently returned as DCI John Luther in Luther: The Fallen Sun, the big-screen follow-up to the TV series, and he hopes the character can take on some of 007’s “real estate.”
The gritty new movie, which stars Andy Serkis as cybernetic serial killer David Robey, has so far been panned by critics after it was released on Netlfix last week.
Idris believes that the Luther film is “a long time coming” and is already planning for the future on the big screen.
The Beasts of No Nation star said: ‘Hopefully it’s the start of a new chapter. It sounds cheesy, but you know we’ve moved on from television, we’ve gone as far as we can, and now we have the world as our stage. Big epic landscapes and you know endless stories.’
Elba suggested that Luther could face multiple villains in the next film.
He said, “There are no spoilers, but I think there could be more than one.”
But The Fallen Sun has so far been panned by critics after the Netflix crime thriller was shown in select theaters ahead of its streaming release.
Coming soon! Luther: The Fallen Sun will premiere on Netflix on March 10
Idris’s latest film has been met with a flurry of two-star reviews, with critics calling the ‘absurd’ image ‘riotous’, ‘loony’ and ‘ridiculous’.
Hitting the small screen on March 10, the film follows DCI John Luther (Idris) as he escapes from his maximum-security prison to capture a cyberpsychopath and serial killer, played by Andy Serkis.
But Variety has called the image ‘difficult to take seriously’ while Empire he said the film, based on the 2010s BBC series, felt “quite recycled”.
Brian Viner wrote in the Daily Mail: “We are bombarded with an overload of everything, especially the plot, with a psychotic villain played by Andy Serkis who seems to have arrived in modern London straight from the bowels of the Underworld.”