Even with actual news about the upcoming 24th James Bond film, SPECTRE, to report and speculate wildly about, people cannot stop talking about Idris Elba. “Should there be a black James Bond,” people ask each other on the Internet and in their local barber shops and speakeasys, while bloviating word machines use being a “devoted fan” as a shield to hide behind when they shout, “James Bond is white and Scottish!” It has been the perfect hypothetical story to get people unnecessarily riled up, and now today – April 8, 2015 – we might be able to finally put it to rest.
While speaking at London’s British Film Institute yesterday, Elba himself pointed a finger back at all of us, and especially the person responsible for this rumor, and said, “Thanks for nothing, jerkwads.”
“Honestly, it’s a rumor that’s really starting to eat itself,” the 42-year-old star of Luther and The Wire told the audience at London’s British Film Institute on Tuesday. “If there was ever any chance of me getting Bond, it’s gone.”
Elba also confirmed that talks with Bond producers have “never happened,” and blamed the man currently brandishing the license to kill for sparking the gossip.
“Daniel Craig actually set the rumor off. About four years ago he said Idris Elba would be a great Bond and then it started to creep,” he said. “I blame Daniel.” (Via The Hollywood Reporter)
In Craig’s defense, though, he is the best James Bond, so he would know what is best for the franchise.
If there’s any good news from yesterday’s event, it’s that the fourth season of Luther is in the can, and Elba is hopeful that a Luther film will eventually happen. Although, I’m hearing from a very real source* that Craig might actually replace Elba as the lead in Luther, so let’s get that rumor rolling, okay?
*As always, my most trusted source…
