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British actor Idris Elba says he plans to move to Africa to join the growing film industry, including studios in Tanzania and his mother’s native Ghana.
“It’s going to happen,” the 52-year-old star of “The Wire” told the BBC. “I think God wills it for the next five to 10 years.”
Elba said supporting Africa’s film industry cannot be done remotely. However, he has no intention of settling in any particular country.
“I’m going to go to the places where they tell their stories,” the Emmy-nominated actor said. “That’s really important.”
Elba’s many memorable roles include playing South African President Nelson Mandela in 2013’s Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. He also appeared in the 2015 war film Beasts of No Nation, set in Ghana.
Elba believes there is untapped potential in places like Ghana’s capital Accra, which are less likely to be seen on screen than commonly filmed cities like New York or Los Angeles. rarely appears. The actor says moviegoers who only see Africa as a war-torn land of trauma and despair don’t see the big picture.
“When you come to Africa, you realize that’s not true,” said Elba, whose father is from Sierra Leone.
The London native is perhaps best known to American audiences as the brooding and ambitious drug lord Russell “Stringer” Bell on HBO’s “The Wire.” He also starred as Heimdall in the “Thor” series and received critical acclaim for his work in the title role in the BBC crime drama “Luthor.”
Despite making it clear that playing James Bond is “not a goal,” Elba’s name frequently comes up when it comes to rumors that the franchise is looking for a new leading man.
He is also a rapper, DJ, and record producer and is known in the music world as DJ Big Driis. He opened for Madonna in 2015 when she performed in Berlin as part of her Rebel Heart Tour. He has been featured on albums by rappers such as Jay-Z and Macklemore, and has collaborated with artists from Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
