Idris Elbas has addressed the furious backlash he recently received after saying he doesn’t call himself a black actor and said it’s his prerogative.
The London-born actor, 50, recently told Esquire magazine: “As humans, we are obsessed with race. And that obsession can really hinder people’s aspirations, hinder people’s growth.”
He also said that he had “stopped describing myself as a Black actor when I realised it put me in a box. We’ve got to grow. Our skin is just our skin.”
His remarks sparked outrage on social media, which Elba has now said was “stupid”.
“Me saying I don’t like to call myself a Black actor is my prerogative,” he told The Guardian. “That’s me, not you. So for you to turn around and say to me, I’m ‘denying my Blackness’. On what grounds? Did you hear that? Where am I denying it? And what for? It’s just stupid. Whatever.”
Elba can currenty be seen starring in Luther: The Fallen Sun, the film adaptation of his hit TV crime drama Luther.
The film received a limited theatrical run on February 24 and will be available to stream on Netflix from March 10.
The actor first appeared as Luther back in 2010 and went on to portray the rough-around-the-edges detective in five seasons on BBC1.
Elba said the film has been a “long time coming”, and shared that he is “proud of the whole team” who worked on the project.
