Idris Elba

About

From Wikipedia:

Idrissa Akuna Elba OBE (/ˈɪdrɪs/; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor, writer, producer, rapper, singer, songwriter and DJ. He is known for roles including Stringer Bell in the HBO series The Wire, DCI John Luther in the BBC One series Luther, and Nelson Mandela in the biographical film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013). He has been nominated four times for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film, winning one, and was nominated five times for a Primetime Emmy Award.

Elba appeared in Ridley Scott’s American Gangster (2007) and Prometheus (2012). Elba portrayed Heimdall in Thor (2011) and its sequels Thor: The Dark World (2013) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017), as well as Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018). He also starred in Pacific Rim (2013), Beasts of No Nation (2015), for which he received Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for Best Supporting Actor, and Molly’s Game (2017). In 2016, he voiced Chief Bogo in Zootopia, Shere Khan in the live action/CGI adaptation of The Jungle Book, Fluke in Finding Dory, and played the role of Krall in Star Trek Beyond. He made his directorial debut in 2018 with an adaptation of the 1992 novel Yardie by Victor Headley.

Aside from acting, Elba performs as a DJ under the moniker DJ Big Driis (or Big Driis the Londoner) and as an R&B musician. In 2016, he was named in the Time 100 list of the Most Influential People in the World. As of May 2019, his films have grossed over $9.8 billion at the global box office, including over $3.6 billion in North America, where he is one of the top 20 highest-grossing actors.

In December 2020, the BBC organized an interview of Paul McCartney by Idris Elba, as part of the promotion for the “McCartney III” album.

This was an opportunity I was never going to miss! The chance to have a fascinating conversation with the legendary @paulmccartney for the @bbc Watch it Saturday 19 December 9.20pm @bbcone You’ll enjoy it as much as I did…trust

Idris Elba – From Twitter, December 18, 2020

In 2021, Idris Elba did a remix of the “McCartney III” track, “Long Tailed Winter Bird“, which got released as an exclusive track on the physical versions of “McCartney III Imagined“.

One day, i get a call offering me an opportunity to interview Sir Paul Mccartney! “ WHAT??” i say “YES” i say. During the course of this inspiring day Macca ( cus we tight now right? 🥴) tells me about a remix album he is making with a few incredible and worthy artists and without missing a beat…i hear my self saying “ can i have a go?” Macca (being polite) says “sure, why not Idris” At that very moment, he and i both knew that i was Waaaaaaaaaaay in over my head, i mean i make music all the time but this is the GOAT and to be honest, i’m certain he had no clue what i would be making. CUT TO: me pressing send (a couple weeks later) I was nervous, i had done a remix of Long tailed winter bird (from his latest album) and it was ambitious ( even for me !!) because i had written a chorus that i could hear PM singing!! “ wait what!!??” i said to myself “ Paul Mccartney is not gonna sing your song bro.. relax!” .. But i sent it , he loved it and sung the hook, he called it INDUBITABLY GROOVY, i didn’t even know what that word meant but i was practically in tears when he sent me his vocals back. If you don’t ask, you don’t get !!! ❤️ Out now 👊🏾 @paulmccartney .Shout out to Rory, Louis, Jeymes, Awren and Pj for helping me make this.

Idris Elba – From Instagram, July 30, 2021

He didn’t approach me, I sort of approached him. Paul said, “It isn’t an obvious one to remix because it’s the one with the least vocals on it. It’s a jam that I just loved. Have a go and do what you want with it.” […] He sent me this beautiful text saying, “It’s indubitably a hit.” I was like, “Oh… fuck… what?” A couple of days later he sent me his vocal singing the hook that I wrote for the remix… which was so weird. Then he sent a text saying, “We absolutely love it.” […] I just can’t believe it. This is The Beatles; this is one of the pillars of music. There’s not a producer/songwriter that hasn’t been influenced somehow or in some way by the music that man has made!

Idris Elba – From MOJO 331, June 2021

Last updated on August 2, 2021