10 Roles We Love From Idris Elba: 'Luther', 'The Suicide Squad' & More | THR Video
From a brilliant, hot-headed detective, to an iconic human-rights activist and a supervillain. Here are 10 roles we love from Idris Elba.
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00:00 - I'm coming for you.
00:02 - Not if I come for you first.
00:04 - From a genius detective,
00:07 to an iconic human rights activist,
00:09 to even a super villain,
00:11 here are 10 roles we love from Idris Elba.
00:13 (upbeat music)
00:16 Elba played Russell Stringer Bell
00:18 in the Baltimore-set crime drama, "The Wire,"
00:20 from 2002 to 2004.
00:23 Stringer was a drug dealer with entrepreneurial aspirations
00:26 who attempted to legitimize
00:27 a narcotics-stealing Barksdale organization.
00:30 - We done worrying about territory, man.
00:32 What corner we got, what project.
00:34 Game ain't about that no more.
00:36 It's about product.
00:37 - From 2010 to 2019, Elba starred
00:39 in the psychological crime thriller TV series, "Luther."
00:42 The actor played Detective Chief Inspector John Luther,
00:46 a brilliant, driven murder detective
00:47 who's both hyper-rational and overly emotional,
00:51 and sometimes resorts to violence.
00:53 The Hollywood Reporter's review of the series
00:54 when it first premiered called Elba, quote,
00:56 "The perfect choice for the title role,"
00:58 saying it's hard to conceive the show without him.
01:01 - Why don't you put the detonator down?
01:03 - Oh, no, I can't do that.
01:05 - Yes, you can.
01:06 - He reprised the role in the 2023 film,
01:08 "Luther, The Fallen Son."
01:10 2011's "Thor" saw Elba make
01:12 his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut
01:14 as the all-seeing and all-hearing Heimdall,
01:16 the guardian of the bridge into Asgard.
01:18 - Never has an enemy slipped my watch until this day.
01:24 I wish to know how that happened.
01:28 - He went on to play the character
01:29 in "Thor, The Dark World," "Avengers Age of Ultron,"
01:32 "Thor Ragnarok," "Avengers Infinity War,"
01:35 and "Thor, Love and Thunder."
01:36 In 2013, Elba portrayed Nelson Mandela,
01:39 the father of South African freedom,
01:41 in "Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom."
01:43 According to THR's review, quote,
01:45 "It takes a commanding actor to fill the shoes of the man
01:47 most instrumental in ending institutionalized oppression
01:50 in South Africa, and the charismatic Elba
01:53 proves equal to the task."
01:54 The review went on to say,
01:56 "While Elba's gifts have been tapped in his television work
01:58 on 'The Wire' and 'Luther,' few, if any,
02:01 films have showcased the British actor's range
02:03 quite so expansively as 'Mandela.'"
02:06 - We no longer accept the authority of a state
02:10 that makes war on its own people.
02:13 - 2015's "Beasts of No Nation" saw Elba play the leader
02:18 of an anti-government force made up of young men.
02:20 The group ruthlessly attacks the general populace
02:23 in an unnamed country, as well as government forces
02:25 when they find them, making for a constant life of warfare.
02:28 THR's review said of Elba's performance in the film,
02:31 quote, "The actor keeps pushing his characterization
02:34 further and further to the rather surprising end,
02:36 never taking the easy way."
02:38 - It has awakened a giant.
02:40 It has put the weapons of this war
02:42 back in the hands of you, the young,
02:45 and therefore, the powerful.
02:48 - Elba has also done his fair share of voiceover work
02:50 over the years, including voicing Chief Bogo
02:53 in 2016's "Zootopia" and the menacing tiger Shere Khan
02:57 in the 2016 remake of "The Jungle Book."
03:00 - Either I'll devour you or the red flower will.
03:03 It's just a matter of time.
03:07 - 2017's "Molly's Game" told the story of the woman
03:09 who once ran the most illustrious poker games in Los Angeles.
03:13 Elba took on the role of her sharp attorney, Charlie,
03:15 who Jessica Chastain's character Molly enlists for help
03:18 after she's arrested by the FBI.
03:20 - Where are the people you're protecting
03:21 by not telling the whole story in the book,
03:23 by selling the Brad Marians suit,
03:25 by not taking $5 million of your own money,
03:28 by going to jail?
03:29 Where did everybody go?
03:30 - The 2021 DC film "The Suicide Squad"
03:33 saw Elba play Bloodsport, a mercenary
03:35 who's the most reluctant member of the squad,
03:37 aka Task Force X, but also its logical leader.
03:41 The movie sees Bloodsport and Task Force X
03:43 get sent to a fictional island nation
03:45 where a mysterious science facility
03:47 houses something they must destroy
03:49 called Project Starfish.
03:51 - You're gonna send my 14-year-old daughter to prison?
03:53 - No.
03:53 Your daughter is 16, Dubois.
03:56 You're real father of the year.
03:59 - Fine, you know what?
03:59 Tyler needs to grow up anyway.
04:01 - Elba played the notorious armed robber Rufus Buck
04:03 in 2021's "The Harder They Fall,"
04:05 an action-adventure set in the Old West.
04:08 Most of the film's main characters, like Buck,
04:10 were real historical figures,
04:12 but they lived in various times during the 19th century,
04:15 and most likely never met one another.
04:17 According to THR's review, quote,
04:18 "The cast has chemistry in all directions,
04:21 "between the romantic match-ups,
04:22 "but just as much among the menfolk
04:24 "as they bicker, bond, and berate one another."
04:27 - Open it.
04:29 - Please.
04:34 - For much more on Idris Elba's career,
04:37 go to THR.com.
04:39 This is The Hollywood Reporter News.
04:41 (upbeat music)