Idris Elba has said that the racist backlash to the prospect of him being cast as James Bond “made the whole thing disgusting and off-putting”.
Elba was speaking on the SmartLess podcast about the continued speculation linking him to the role, saying: “I was super complimented for a long time about this. We’re all actors and we understand that role is one of those coveted [roles] … Being asked to be James Bond [would be] like: ‘OK, you’ve sort of reached the pinnacle’. That’s one of those things the whole world has a vote in.”
Elba added: “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 and off-putting, because it became about race. And it became about nonsense and I got the brunt of it.”
The star of The Wire and Luther, Elba has been in contention to play Bond since the early 2010s, particularly after Daniel Craig’s lack of enthusiasm for continuing as 007 became clear. In 2014 US radio host Rush Limbaugh said: “[They are] suggesting that the next James Bond should be Idris Elba, a black Briton, rather than a white from Scotland. But that’s not who James Bond is and I know it’s racist to probably point this out.” Former Bond star Roger Moore denied he was racist after the media reported comments in 2015 in which he reportedly said that Bond should be “English-English”, while Yaphet Kotto, who played Mr Big in the 1973 Bond film Live and Let Die, said: “Black men should stop trying to play roles created by whites. These roles are not written for black men.” In the same year, author Anthony Horowitz apologised after saying that Elba was “too street” to play Bond.
With Craig having definitively retired from playing Bond after No Time to Die, the series producers are in discussion as to who should take over. Comments from producer Barbara Broccoli add to the sense that Elba is not likely to appear in the role. In 2022 she said: “When we cast Bond, it’s a 10, 12-year commitment … A lot of people think: ‘Oh yeah, it would be fun to do one.’ Well, that ain’t gonna work.” Elba, at 50, would be required to commit to making action films into his early 60s.
According to bookmakers Ladbrokes, Aaron Taylor-Johnson is the current favourite to win the role, with Elba an outside bet at 18-1. Other leading contenders include 3-1 shot Henry Cavill, who was considered unlucky to lose the role to Craig in 2005 after Casino Royale director Martin Campbell told the Express that Cavill did a “tremendous” audition. James Norton (4-1), Paapa Essiedu (5-1), Tom Hardy (5-1), and Rege-Jean Page (6-1) also have their names in the frame.
