Idris Elba
Highest Rated: 98% Zootopia (2016)
Lowest Rated: 8% The Reaping (2007)
Birthday: Sep 6, 1972
Birthplace: Hackney, England, UK
British actor, Idris Elba became known for playing the Baltimore drug dealer Stringer Bell on HBO's widely-acclaimed drama "The Wire" (HBO, 2002-08), in addition to countless other high profile television and film roles. Elba was born in Hackney, London in 1972. His parents were immigrants (his father was born in Sierra Leone, while his mother was from Ghana), and moved to London by way of Sierra Leone shortly before Elba was born. Elba grew up in East Ham and Hackney, and first got interested in acting after seeing an advertisement in a London-based entertainment publication. The advertisement was asking newbie actors to audition for a new play. Elba jumped at the opportunity, and showed up at the audition. On his first try, Elba landed the part, and would later meet his first agent while performing in the play. Performing in the play was an eye-opening experience for Elba, who decided quickly after that he wanted to be an actor. At the age of 16 he was able to land a huge break by landing a spot in the National Youth Music Theater, thanks to a grant from the Prince's Trust charitable organization. While a member of the National Youth Music Theater, Elba was able to hone his acting craft, while developing the necessary skills he needed to make it as a performer. It was also around this time that Elba began working for his uncle's wedding D.J. company and found that he absolutely loved scratching records. His love grew so strong that by his late teens Elba embarked on a career as a D.J. He would go on to play music in London nightclubs in the evening, while working a number of odd jobs by the day. In his early 20s Elba made a serious attempt at launching his acting career. In addition to working his D.J. jobs, in which he went by the name of Big Driis, he began auditioning for film and TV roles. By the mid-1990s, Elba was landing steady acting work in the U.K. He nabbed guest spots on the children's sitcom "2point4 Children" (BBC One, 1991-99) and the British comedy series "Absolutely Fabulous" (BBC Two/BBC One, 1992-2012), before landing a recurring role on the crime series "The Ruth Rendell Mysteries" (ITV, 1987-2000). By the late 90s and early 2000s Elba was nabbing recurring parts on a number of British television shows, including "Insiders" (BBC One, 1997), "Ultraviolet" (Channel 4, 1998), and "Dangerfield" (BBC One, 1995-99). Then in 2002 Elba landed his first big break across the pond when he was cast as Stringer Bell, a Baltimore-based drug kingpin, on David Simon's multi-layered crime drama series "The Wire." Elba played Stringer Bell for 37 episodes of the widely-acclaimed series, before his character was killed off in season 3. After playing Stringer Bell for three years, Idris Elba's acting career in both the U.K. and the United States flourished. In addition to nabbing parts in high-profile films like "28 Weeks Later" (2007) and "American Gangster" (2007), he starred as the title character in the BBC crime series "Luther" (BBC One, 2010 - ). He also landed a recurring role on the beloved American sitcom "The Office" (NBC, 2005-2013) in 2009. By the early 2010s Elba's acting profile continued to grow at a rapid pace. He appeared in blockbuster films like "Thor" (2011), "Prometheus" (2012), and "Pacific Rim" (2013), and was also cast as Nelson Mandela in the 2013 bio pic "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" (2013). In 2016 Elba was nominated for a Golden Globe for his captivating performance in the drama "Beasts of No Nation" (2015), and appeared in the films "Molly's Game" (2017) and "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018). 2019 also proved to be a big year for Idris Elba. In addition to co-creating and starring in the Netflix series "Turn Up Charlie" (Netflix, 2019- ), a partially autobiographical show that was based on his experiences as a D.J., Elba appeared alongside The Rock and Jason Statham in the blockbuster action film "Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw" (2019). When "Hobbs and Shaw" was released in the summer of 2019 the film made over $700 billion, making it one of the highest grossing films of the year-just another reason why Idris Elba had certified his status as one of Hollywood's most bankable actors of the 2010s.
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Idris Elba
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | Knuckles (Voice) | - | 2024 |
67% |
|
Luther: The Fallen Sun |
John Luther (Character), Producer |
- | 2023 |
78% |
|
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse | Fox (Voice) | - | 2022 |
71% |
|
Three Thousand Years of Longing | The Djinn (Character) | $8.3M | 2022 |
69% |
|
Beast | Dr. Nate Daniels (Character) | $31.8M | 2022 |
68% |
|
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | Knuckles (Voice) | $190.7M | 2022 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A New Diva's Christmas Carol | Executive Producer | - | 2022 |
88% |
|
The Harder They Fall | Rufus Buck (Character) | - | 2021 |
90% |
|
The Suicide Squad | Bloodsport (Character) | $55.8M | 2021 |
80% |
|
Concrete Cowboy |
Harp (Character), Producer |
- | 2020 |
19% |
|
Cats | Macavity (Character) | $27.2M | 2019 |
67% |
|
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw | Brixton (Character) | $173.8M | 2019 |
53% |
|
Yardie | Director | $35.6K | 2018 |
85% |
|
Avengers: Infinity War | Heimdall (Character) | $678.8M | 2018 |
81% |
|
Molly's Game | Charlie Jaffey (Character) | $28.7M | 2017 |
93% |
|
Thor: Ragnarok | Heimdall (Character) | $315.0M | 2017 |
39% |
|
The Mountain Between Us | Ben Bass (Character) | $30.3M | 2017 |
15% |
|
The Dark Tower | Roland (Character) | $50.7M | 2017 |
41% |
|
A Hundred Streets |
Max (Character), Producer |
- | 2016 |
48% |
|
The Take | Sean Briar (Character) | $39.0K | 2016 |
86% |
|
Star Trek Beyond | Krall (Character) | $158.8M | 2016 |
94% |
|
Finding Dory | Fluke (Voice) | $486.2M | 2016 |
94% |
|
The Jungle Book | Shere Khan (Voice) | $364.0M | 2016 |
98% |
|
Zootopia | Chief Bogo (Voice) | - | 2016 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mandela, My Dad and Me |
Unknown (Character), Executive Producer |
- | 2015 |
91% |
|
Beasts of No Nation |
Commandant (Character), Producer |
$83.9K | 2015 |
76% |
|
Avengers: Age of Ultron | Heimdall (Character) | $459.0M | 2015 |
15% |
|
The Gunman | DuPont (Character) | $10.6M | 2015 |
79% |
|
Second Coming | Mark (Character) | - | 2014 |
No Score Yet |
|
Enchanted Kingdom | Narrator | - | 2014 |
12% |
|
No Good Deed |
Colin (Character), Executive Producer |
$52.5M | 2014 |
62% |
|
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom | Nelson Mandela (Character) | $8.3M | 2013 |
67% |
|
Thor: The Dark World | Heimdall (Character) | $206.4M | 2013 |
72% |
|
Pacific Rim | Stacker Pentecost (Character) | $101.8M | 2013 |
73% |
|
Prometheus | Janek (Character) | $126.5M | 2012 |
13% |
|
Demons Never Die | Executive Producer | - | 2011 |
19% |
|
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance | Moreau (Character) | $51.8M | 2011 |
77% |
|
Thor | Heimdall (Character) | $268.0M | 2011 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Gumball 3000 - LDN 2 NYC | Self | - | 2011 |
86% |
|
Legacy | Malcolm Gray (Character) | - | 2010 |
28% |
|
Takers | Gordon Jennings (Character) | $57.7M | 2010 |
48% |
|
The Losers | Roque (Character) | $23.6M | 2010 |
19% |
|
Obsessed | Derek Charles (Character) | $68.3M | 2009 |
10% |
|
The Unborn | Father Arthur Wyndham (Character) | $42.6M | 2009 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Human Contract | Larry (Character) | - | 2008 |
60% |
|
RocknRolla | Mumbles (Character) | $5.7M | 2008 |
9% |
|
Prom Night | Det. Winn (Character) | $43.8M | 2008 |
55% |
|
This Christmas | Quentin Whitfield (Character) | $49.1M | 2007 |
72% |
|
28 Weeks Later | Gen. Stone (Character) | $28.6M | 2007 |
8% |
|
The Reaping | Ben (Character) | $25.1M | 2007 |
26% |
|
Daddy's Little Girls | Monty (Character) | $31.3M | 2007 |
81% |
|
American Gangster | Tango (Character) | $130.1M | 2007 |
No Score Yet |
|
Sometimes in April | Augustin (Character) | - | 2005 |
32% |
|
The Gospel | Reverend Charles Frank (Character) | $15.8M | 2005 |
No Score Yet |
|
One Love | Aaron (Character) | - | 2003 |
No Score Yet |
|
Belle maman | Grégoire (Character) | - | 1999 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Silent Witness: Blood, Sweat and Tears | Charlie (Character) | - | 1997 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Ruth Rendell Mysteries: Heartstones | Unknown (Character) | - | 1996 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Color of Victory: Heroes of WW2 |
Executive Producer, Narrator |
2024 |
75% | 69% | Knuckles |
Knuckles (Voice), Executive Producer |
2024 |
89% | 79% | What If...? | Heimdall (Guest Voice) | 2023 |
88% | 50% | Hijack |
Sam Nelson (Character), Executive Producer |
2023 |
No Score Yet | 49% | The Late Show With Stephen Colbert | Guest | 2019 2023 |
No Score Yet | 66% | Zootopia+ | Chief Bogo (Voice) | 2022 |
No Score Yet | 73% | Human Playground | Narrator | 2022 |
No Score Yet | 28% | The Drew Barrymore Show | Guest | 2022 |
No Score Yet | 44% | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | Guest | 2016-2017 2021-2022 |
No Score Yet | 62% | The Kelly Clarkson Show | Guest | 2022 |
No Score Yet | 41% | Jimmy Kimmel Live! | Guest | 2011 2013-2014 2017 2022 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Desus & Mero | Guest | 2021 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A World of Calm | Narrator | 2020 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | In The Long Run |
Walter (Character), Producer |
2018-2020 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Elba vs. Block |
Executive Producer, Host |
2020 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Oprah Talks COVID-19 | Guest | 2020 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Hot Ones | Guest | 2019 |
No Score Yet | 14% | The View | Guest | 2017 2019 |
52% | 88% | Turn Up Charlie |
Charlie (Character), Creator, Executive Producer |
2019 |
No Score Yet | 58% | Saturday Night Live | Host | 2019 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Ellen DeGeneres Show | Guest | 2017 2019 |
88% | 88% | Luther |
DCI John Luther (Character), Associate Producer, Associate Editor, Producer |
2010-2011 2013 2015 2019 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Graham Norton Show | Guest | 2014 2017-2018 |
No Score Yet | 61% | Late Night With Seth Meyers | Guest | 2015 2017 |
75% | 47% | Guerrilla |
Kent (Character), Executive Producer |
2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Five by Five |
Alpha Ash (Character), Executive Producer |
2017 |
No Score Yet | 19% | The Late Late Show With James Corden | Guest | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Daily Show | Guest | 2015 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Idris Elba: King of Speed | Host | 2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Late Night With Jimmy Fallon | Guest | 2012 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Lopez Tonight | Guest | 2010-2011 |
55% | 80% | The Big C | Lenny (Guest Star) | 2010 |
81% | 89% | The Office | Charles Miner (Guest Star) | 2009 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency | Unknown (Character) | 2009 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Afropop: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange | Host | 2008 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Jonny Zero | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2005 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Girlfriends | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2005 |
94% | 96% | The Wire | Russell "Stringer" Bell (Character) | 2002-2004 |
No Score Yet | 65% | CSI: Miami | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2003 |
20% | No Score Yet | Hack | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2002 |
No Score Yet | 83% | Law & Order | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2001 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dangerfield | Unknown (Character) | 1999 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Ultraviolet | Vaughn Rice (Character) | 1998 |
No Score Yet | 89% | Absolutely Fabulous | Hilton (Guest Star) | 1995 |