Idris Elba warns against a ‘woke’ James Bond as he responds to casting rumours

Sir Idris Elba has urged the new James Bond custodians not to make the spy “woke”.

The Golden Globe winner, who was a front-runner to be Daniel Craig’s replacement, said that 007 needed to remain “unrealistic” and that audiences would not welcome a black actor.

In an interview with GQ about who could take over the role, with casting officially under way, Elba said: “Bond is so unrealistic, so a hint of reality is good, but let’s not try and make it woke.”

“I think you’ve got to be pure to what it is: escapism. Don’t try and answer the world’s taste. Just be Bond.”

He also addressed rumours that he could be Craig’s replacement after the actor’s 15-year tenure as the suave spy, which ended with the film No Time to Die in 2021.

“I’ve always felt that it’s not a realistic thing,” Elba said, adding: “James Bond was written how he was written for a reason. But I was complimented by it.

“And also, I think, in realistic terms, some markets just don’t go for that. Bond is big all over the world. And [audiences] won’t [all] go for a black male, an African male, playing Bond. That’s not what they like in their culture. Period.”

He made the comments less than a month after Amazon MGM Studios confirmed that casting for the new 007 had begun.

After years of speculation as to who might take on the mantle, the studio said: “While we don’t plan to comment on specific details during the casting process, we’re excited to share more news with 007 fans as soon as the time is right.”

The studio has enlisted the help of Nina Gold, a British casting veteran who was nominated for an Oscar for her work on the film Hamnet. She is also known for her work on Game of Thrones, The Crown and The Day of the Jackal.

Previously, Elba admitted that a racist backlash to the prospect of him being cast as Ian Fleming’s spy “made the whole thing disgusting and off-putting”.

He told the SmartLess podcast in 2023 that for some, it “became about race and nonsense”, adding that he “got the brunt of it”.

The actor has more recently turned his attention to tackling London’s knife crime problem, amid his philanthropic work supporting young people, for which he was knighted by the King at Windsor Castle earlier this month.

In his interview, Elba explained how he became involved in anti-knife crime campaigning, stating: “Listening to the reports every day – it was hopeless.”

“It was almost, if I was a young person, like, ‘Bruh, I could carry a knife, and no one would know. I could stab someone, and no one would know.’ Because it just seemed so hopeless.

“I just thought to myself, ‘Well, I get to stand on a soapbox on Graham Norton all day and talk about stuff, wear a T-shirt and everyone wants to buy it, whatever it is, and I should be saying something’.

“I’ve got kids. If anything happened to my kids I’d be f---ing devastated. So that was it. It wasn’t like ‘Oh I want to campaign’. It was, ‘Is no one gonna say anything?’”

Build skills and confidence

In May, Elba joined a star-studded celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of the King’s Trust at Buckingham Palace.

His Majesty’s trust works alongside the Elba Hope Foundation, a charity founded by Elba and his wife, Sabrina Elba, to provide free courses designed to inspire young people across Britain to build skills and confidence to work in the creative industries.

Speaking about being labelled a “hero” in the latest GQ edition, Elba said: “I’m just an actor that has got all these ambitions. I struggle with it, a little bit. The responsibility, accepting it, like, ‘Yes! I’m an upstanding hero! I’m a role model!’ I’m not. I’m imperfect, massively.”

The Hijack star added: “That line, that cusp, is hard to maintain: you’re either a hero, or you’re not – which is it? And I sort of sit in the middle. I didn’t ever chase being a knight. Or chase being a sort of public hero – that’s not what I’m chasing.”

The Heroes Issue of British GQ is out now.

The Telegraph, London