Idris Elba says that he no longer refers to himself as a “Black actor.” He explained why he doesn’t like the description during an interview with Esquire magazine, published earlier this week. Elba says that being called a “Black actor” makes him feel like he’s being put “in a box.”
“I stopped describing myself as a Black actor when I realized it put me in a box. As humans, we are obsessed with race. And that obsession can really hinder people’s aspirations, hinder people’s growth. Racism should be a topic for discussion, sure. Racism is very real. But from my perspective, it’s only as powerful as you allow it to be. We’ve got to grow. We’ve got to. Our skin is no more than that: It’s just skin.” From there, he added: “I’m not any more Black because I’m in a white area, or more Black because I’m in a Black area. I’m Black. And that skin stays with me no matter where I go, every day, through Black areas with white people in it, or white areas with Black people in it. I’m the same Black.”
Idris Elba’s Explanation
Elba also said that he didn’t choose to go into the entertainment industry for representation. He said he “didn’t become an actor because I didn’t see Black people doing it and I wanted to change that. I did it because I thought that’s a great profession and I could do a good job at it.”
Elba later addressed the backlash he has been receiving to the comments in a statement posted on Twitter. He wrote: “There isn’t a soul on this earth that can question whether I consider myself a BLACK MAN or not. Being an ‘actor’ is a profession, like being an ‘architect’, they are not defined by race. However, If YOU define your work by your race, that is your Perogative. Ah lie?”
Idris Elba’s next film, Netflix’s Luther: The Fallen Sun, hits theater later this month before being added to the streaming platform in March. Elba is best known for his role as Stringer Bell in The Wire, as well as his roles in Beast, Three Thousand Years of Longing, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, The Suicide Squad, and more.
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