Idris Elba’s crisp British accent has become one of the actor’s defining traits — and he deploys it skilfully whenever he gets to play a Brit on screen. But that wasn’t always the case. In fact, to land his career-launching role as Stringer Bell in David Simon’s epic crime masterpiece, “The Wire,” Elba was advised by a casting director to keep his accent a secret during his audition, according to a 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Elba followed that advice, knowing Simon had already hired an English actor for the show’s lead role, with Dominic West cast as Detective Jimmy McNulty. As the writer-creator explained, “I was probably in a mode where if I was being asked to take on more Brits, I would’ve been like, ‘Come on, can’t I get some f****** New Yorkers? I know I can’t get a Baltimore accent, but can I at least get some Americans?'”
That Elba was relatively unknown outside the U.K. ultimately worked in his favor, since Simon has suggested he might not have hired him had he known Elba was British. Coupled with Elba’s undeniable talent — and his ability to convincingly nail an American accent — the result was one of television’s most memorable villains.
Although The Wire brought him fame, it took some time for Idris Elba to find his path in Hollywood
Playing Stringer Bell undoubtedly put Elba on the map. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing from there. Especially not after he got an out-of-the-blue call from Simon letting him know that Stringer would meet his maker at the end of Season 3. The news was just as surprising to Elba as it was to viewers — and it left him figuring out his next move.
He racked up smaller parts for a few years, but it wasn’t until 2007 that he began landing bigger film roles, starting with Ridley Scott’s “American Gangster,” followed by Guy Ritchie’s “RocknRolla” the next year. In 2009, he guest-starred on the U.S. version of “The Office,” but his next big role that truly solidified his rise was BBC One’s “Luther,” which ran for five seasons over nine years and later spawned a Netflix movie in 2023.
Playing John Luther raised his profile, and Elba started landing bigger studio roles in films like “Thor,” “Prometheus,” and “Pacific Rim,” cementing his status as a bona fide leading man. Today, he’s a global household name. In retrospect, it’s wild to think it all traces back to an audition where he had to hide his British accent just to get a foot in the door.