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Idris Elba on Being First Black James Bond: 'It's Just a Rumor'

Idris Elba on Being First Black James Bond: 'It's Just a Rumor'
(Leon Neal/WPA/Pool/Getty Images, file)

By    |   Wednesday, 01 July 2015 11:07 AM EDT

Idris Elba is again shooting down the rumor that he might play the first black James Bond and replace Daniel Craig, who currently has the iconic role.

In an email leaked in 2014, then Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairwoman Amy Pascal said she thought “Idris should be the next Bond,” according to The Daily Beast.



That was more than a year ago and the 42-year-old British actor said in a recent interview with Radio Times that he still doesn't know anything about the James Bond role.

“It’s just a rumor,” said Elba. “I don’t know. You can never believe all that stuff.”

At the time, the Sony email ignited rumors that Elba may appear in the coming Bond movie, "Spectre." Elba initially responded via Twitter and implied he wasn't handsome enough to play the ‘007’ character.


The rumor evoked lots of responses.

“I know Idris a little bit and he is a big talent. The movies he has been making are special, and when the role for James Bond comes up it needs to be his,” Kanye West told The Sun.

When Pierce Brosnan, the retired 007 actor, was asked if Elba would make a good Bond, he replied, "yeah, he would actually,” said Radio Times. Bronson also said Colin Salmon would also fit the role.

“James Bond is a total concept put together by Ian Fleming,” said Rush Limbaugh, who doesn't think the next James Bond should be black. “He was white and Scottish, period. That is who James Bond is.”

Pascal was fired by Sony earlier this year and Elba said he doesn't know whether he ever really had a shot at the Bond role, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Honestly, it’s a rumor that’s really starting to eat itself," he said, "If there was ever any chance of me getting Bond, it’s gone.”

Elba thinks 007 star Daniel Craig started the rumor years ago, per THR.

"Daniel Craig actually set the rumor off. About four years ago he said Idris Elba would be a great Bond and then it started to creep," the actor claimed. “I blame Daniel.”

"Spectre" with Craig is set for a November release.



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TheWire
Idris Elba is again shooting down the rumor that he might play the first black James Bond and replace Daniel Craig, who currently has the iconic role.
idris elba, first, black, james bond, rumor
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2015-07-01
Wednesday, 01 July 2015 11:07 AM
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