Idris Elba defends herself against backlash from ‘black actor’

IDRIS ELBA denies allegations he has “given up his blackness” following one EsquireUK Interview in which he said he stopped calling himself a “Black actor” as it limited the types of roles he was offered.

In conversation with The guard, Elba – once favorite to replace Daniel Craig as the next James Bond – pointed out that he’s never denied his blackness, only that he doesn’t want to define himself by it. He added that his opinions would be more susceptible to scrutiny and taken out of context by the public.

In the EsquireUK In an interview, Elba had said: “I stopped calling myself a black actor when I realized it was categorizing me. We have to grow. We must. Our skin is nothing more than that: it is just skin.”

Another actor who came to his defense was John Boyega, who urged people to focus on breaking down the stereotypes experienced by actors of color in Hollywood, to which Elba drew attention.

“I think we should focus on who is typing and labeling actors for this reason,” Boyega wrote on Twitter. “Not on making weird adjustments for them. We’re constantly focused on what we need to do so they don’t do this or that.”

Elba himself added to his remarks on his own Twitter account, saying: “Being an actor is a profession, like an ‘architect’, they are not defined by race.”