Idris Elba.Photo:Leon Bennett/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty
Leon Bennett/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty
Elba, 51, appeared on Thursday’sepisodeof Spotify’sWhat Now?withTrevor Noahpodcast and reflected on the breakout moment of his career when he starred in the acclaimed HBO dramaThe Wire.
While the British actor remembered the whirlwind experience of going from being a struggling actor to playing the business-savvy criminal Stringer Bell fondly, he admitted that it was a complete surprise when his character was killed off in season 3.
“I didn’t know my character was gonna die until we got the episode,” Elba told Noah, 40.
He jokingly added, “It was tough love.”
After explaining that “it was scary” and “a tough pill to swallow” to suddenly lose his leading role on a hit series and work less frequently for a period, the formerLutherstar detailed how he found out about Stringer’s fate.
Elba recalled, “You usually get your scripts, you know, like two, three in a row, they write them. And I think the way I got it, I got episode seven. I was like, ‘Oh, um, episode seven. I got episode seven. Where’s eight? Can I get eight? What’s wrong?’”
“‘Uh, you’re not, not, you’re not in eight,’” he continued, reenacting his interaction with the showrunners at the time. “‘What do you mean? I’m not in eight?’ ‘You should read, you should read it.’ That’s how I kind of found out.”
TheBeaststar also opened up about when he first landed his role onThe Wire— which involved lying about his accent throughout nearly the entire audition process.
The Emmy-nominated actor recalled, “There’s one casting director, I talk about it all the time, Alexa Fogel. She would put me up for stuff and she said, ‘Hey, listen. ThisWirething’s come up. It’s calledThe Wire. It’s a pilot. They’re going to shoot it in January. But if you go in, you cannot let them know you aren’t American because they will not — I mean, this is about Baltimore. It’s very specific. They don’t want any strangers. I mean, please.’”
Elba explained that it was no problem, as he had picked up an American accent living in New Jersey and Brooklyn and working as a bouncer/DJ — but was stunned during the fourth and final audition when the producers asked him, “Where are you from?”
He said he was sweating and thought to himself, “They told you, ‘Don’t say nothing.’” He continued, “I’m thinking, ‘Your accent is shit. They sus-ed you.’ I look at him and I said, ‘I’m from East London. The room just exploded.’"
Ultimately, the Marvel actor revealed that showrunners wanted to know because they had placed bets on whether or not he was lying about being American and ended up offering him the role of Stringer on the spot, despite auditioning for Avon.
Idris Elba as Stringer Bell on ‘The Wire’.Deadline/Kobal/Shutterstock
Deadline/Kobal/Shutterstock
Elba andThe Wirecreator David Simon have previously reflected on the actor/musician’s exit from the series in interviews.
In a 2019 interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, Simon, 64, shared that Elba was vocal about how disappointed he was to have to leave the show and said, “Boo,” on set as he was being zipped into a body bag.
“We all just fell out laughing,” Simon said. “It was one of the most charming things I’d ever seen.”
The showrunner explained that his death was largely “to make a political point,” considering how Stringer attempted “to reform the drug war” when “it’s un-reformable.”
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The Wirecan be streamed in full on Max.
source: people.com
