When we hear his name, we swoon, and when we see him on the screen, big or small, we pay close attention. Since the mid-nineties, Idris Elba has been making appearances on dozens of television shows, taking on the role of gigolos, bar hoppers and forensic scientists, and also the notable role of a cunning drug lord and an aspiring businessman on the critically-acclaimed show, The Wire. A few years later, he earned reoccurring roles on The Big C and The Office, and presently, he’s headed into the third season of his hit British crime series, Luther, which has earned him a Golden Globe.
The Sierra Leonean/Ghanaian West Londoner’s contribution to the film world has been just as significant. Starting off small, he’s played a lowly mechanic in Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls, a troubled and harassed husband in the thriller Obsessed, and a valiant spaceship captain in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. He’s been in more than 20 movies to date, and he’s currently filming two more as we speak, one of those movies being a biopic about Nelson Mandela’s life, in a film entitled, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and the other movie is a sequel to Thor, where he will be reprising his role of the all-knowing guardian, Heimdall. And, word around the web is that Idris may be in line to become the next James Bond once Daniel Craig’s contract is fulfilled. One can only hope, as it’s time they bring some color to that role.
Booming film and television career aside, we respect Elba’s hustle, because he tries his hand at everything and has a plethora of other ventures in the works. We’ve spotted him on dozens of print and online Tanqueray ads, holding ice glasses of gin and wearing a gamesome expression. And, as of 2011, he became the face of a new Smartwater campaign. He’s also been seen in the music videos of Fat Joe, Angie Stone and UK artist Gigs. Elba co-produced and performed on Jay’s American Gangster album, and he starred in and directed a moving Mumford & Sons music video, called “Lover Of The Light.” And, he’s released two EPs, and performed all over as a DJ with the stage name DJ Big Driis the Londoner. And, by no means is he an amateur in the music department. He’s been DJing since the late 80s, having once owned a DJ company with a group of close friends.
In terms of his personal life, the once divorced transatlantic stud has one daughter, Isan Elba, for whom he bought a home in Atlanta to be closer to; and he has one son, by the name of Ortega. Elba shares time between Atlanta, London and Los Angeles, considering U.S. his home, though he still prides himself on being a ‘London boy.’ And, forever discreet about his love life and presumed single, it was rumored that Elba has excluded black women from his net of dating hopefuls, BUT, he enthusiastically denied those claims on Twitter. And we can’t help but be enamored by a guy who isn’t vain, and actually claims to not know what the hype surrounding his beauty is all about. I mean really!? Has he looked in the mirror!? That skin? That smile? That body? That accent? He could be our Valentine anytime, but we’ll just have to dream about that happening…for now…
