Idris Elba: 'Part of the public would not accept a black man playing James Bond'

Idris Elba at the Venice Film Festival, in September 2025
REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File
Idris Elba spoke again to "GQ" magazine about playing James Bond. The actor stated that part of the public would not accept a black man playing agent 007 and also declared that he was "never in the running" to play the spy.
"Bond is huge all over the world. Part of the public wouldn't accept a black man, an African man, playing Bond. That's not what they like about their culture. Period," he said.
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In the interview, the actor explained that he was never invited to play the character. "That was never something concrete. It was always just a rumor," he said. According to the publication, speculation began at the Italian premiere of "007 - Quantum of Solace", held the day after the US presidential election in 2008. At the time, Daniel Craig stated that Barack Obama's victory suggested that the time had come for a black Bond. Elba said fans simply took the idea and ran with it.
"Bond is so unrealistic, so a touch of reality is good, but let's not try to make him 'woke'. I think you have to be true to what he is: escapism. Don't try to cater to the world's taste. Just be Bond."
➡ The term "woke" has grown in the last decade to designate - generally in a pejorative way - people or works that pay attention to social issues.
The search for the next 007 officially began last month, after years of anticipation and speculation about who would replace Daniel Craig. He played the character until 2021, when he said goodbye after the premiere of "007 - No Time to Die". Among the possible candidates for the role are Callum Turner, who recently married Dua Lipa, Henry Cavill and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
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Source: G1