166 Quotes by Idris Elba

I’ve never had to explain ‘Prometheus’ to people, ever. Most people get it.

I was cast in ‘Thor’ and I’m cast as a Nordic god. If you know anything about the Nords, they don’t look like me but there you go. I think that’s a sign of the times for the future. I think we will see multi-level casting. I think we will see that, and I think that’s good.

I’ll always be attached to telly in one way or another, whether it’s a character or producer or director, I just love the medium.

When I look at my body of work, I’ve played a lot of characters who are morally conflicted – ‘I’m right, no I’m wrong, I don’t know what to do!’ I want to play more characters who don’t care as much, and who aren’t as measured. They are what they are, no apologies.

The long and short of it is that I am now in a position in England to green light movies, and that’s really excellent – not high-budget movies, but movies none the less.

White actors still get way more money in Hollywood. It’s been that way for a very long time. I hope it’ll change, but it’s a matter of forcing that change.

I think there’s a tendency for actors like myself, and I don’t mean to generalize myself, but I’ve played ‘men’s men,’ if you will, characters that are simmering rage and calculated. There’s a trend not to play anything that is opposed to that.

Imagine a film such as Inception with an entire cast of black people – do you think it would be successful? Would people watch it? But no one questions the fact that everyone’s white. That’s what we have to change.

It could be Grammy night, Oscar night, whatever – I don’t feel the pressure to be there.