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I'm rebelling against being handed a career, like, 'You're the next this you're the next that.' I'm not the next anything, I'm the first me. I can't be myself, I can't just be Idris Elba. But that's just the nature of the business.

Idris Elba

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Idris Elba
Age: 52
Born: 1972
Born: September 6
Actor
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Film Actor
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Stage Actor
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More quotes by Idris Elba

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I was always a real athletic kid. Then when I got older, I just figured it was part of life to keep training.
Idris Elba
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I knew that if I wanted to be all I could be, I would have to go to the US. It took three years to get the accent right.
Idris Elba
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Being able to work with Ridley Scott on this film is like being able to play on the Olympic team for actors.
Idris Elba
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Are there differences between black actors’ opportunities and white actors’ opportunities? Yes, there are. It’s been said.
Idris Elba
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What really excites me in a project is when it goes in a way you haven't been before.
Idris Elba
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In 'Pacific Rim' I had to have a haircut I wouldn't usually rock. However, the moustache I had in the film - that might have to come out again. It was a good moustache. Good times.
Idris Elba
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It's weird because my parents don't really understand my business. I get fan mail all day long, but if a piece happens to get to their house, they're like, 'Oh, my God, you've got a fan! You have to write them back. You have to do it!
Idris Elba
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The adrenaline feeling of jumping out of cliffs and bikes and all of that is very specific to the film. In 'Pac Rim' I'm not doing that so much. There isn't that touch stonework for me in it, but there is a lot of action.
Idris Elba
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I get criticized for taking roles in films like Ghost Rider 2, but if you look at my résumé, dude, I've mixed it up as much as I can.
Idris Elba
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It was deeply important for me to understand where Mandela came from. Because we know where he was going, and that's a famous story, but who was he? Where did he come from? What was his upbringing?
Idris Elba
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The one album I can't live without is called 'Cumbolo' by a band called Culture. Every song on their album is deep, but there's one in particular called 'This Train.' I have a tattoo of the lyrics on my left arm.
Idris Elba
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I wasn't bad at school, but I was never a bookworm.
Idris Elba
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What an honor it was to step into the shoes of Nelson Mandela and portray a man who defied odds, broke down barriers, and championed human rights before the eyes of the world.
Idris Elba
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It could be Grammy night, Oscar night, whatever - I don't feel the pressure to be there.
Idris Elba
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The only thing I change mainly is my sneakers. I love sneakers. But everything's sort of black or jeans. Jeans, always.
Idris Elba
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I'm an ambitious person. I never consider myself in competition with anyone, and I'm not saying that from an arrogant standpoint, it's just that my journey started so, so long ago, and I'm still on it and I won't stand still.
Idris Elba
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I watch my daughter wanting to be like other kids and getting upset that she's not. But I always try and instill in her the idea that she's perfect as she is.
Idris Elba
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I tend to stay away from the comics.
Idris Elba
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I'm a little sheepish about it. Whenever I meet fans and they're like, 'Oh, you're so sexy,' I just don't get that. There's no way one man can be universally sexy.
Idris Elba
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I'd rather a young black actor read about success as opposed to how tough it was. I get these roles because I can act and that's it. Hopefully that's it.
Idris Elba