British actor, musician and DJ Idris Elba was born to immigrant working-class parents – his father was from Sierra Leone, and his mother was born in Ghana. He was brought up in East London before finding fame in America.
He is best known for playing Nelson Mandela in the biographical film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013), drug trafficker Stringer Bell on the HBO series The Wire, and DCI John Luther on the BBC One series Luther.
He continues to take on major projects, including DJ gigs. However, he doesn’t see it all as work. “I consider this a privilege,” Elba said during a recent appearance on “Good Hang with Amy Poehler.”
“This ain’t work,” he said.
Certainly, those projects ain’t work at all considering how he had to work hard jobs to survive before getting his major break when he was cast on HBO’s The Wire in 2001.
Growing up in the London borough of Hackney, Elba said, “Both my parents [were] working class, didn’t have much at all.”
He noted that he has struggled to get by “for longer than I’ve been famous or successful.”
Elba told Poehler about the “grim” night shifts he worked at a Ford Motor Company factory in Dagenham, East London, where he did the same tasks every night for two years.
“Nothing compares to doing that,” Elba said. “So when I get an opportunity to come work with you, to come work on a set, it doesn’t feel like work. Now everyone else is like, ‘You’re working really hard,’ but it’s not that hard.”
Elba also did other jobs while hoping to get this breakthrough as an actor. After moving to the United States for the first time, he worked as a doorman at a New York City comedy club, DJayed for events and even sold cannabis, including to celebrities such as Dave Chappelle.
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The Obsessed actor once revealed in an interview that he “used to sell weed” though “it wasn’t [legal] back then.” “I did that for a little bit just to pay the way,” he added.
Packaging sex toys in a factory for online orders was, however, the “worst job” of all as Elba described it as “traumatic”.
In the long run, his prayers were answered. While performing in an off-Broadway production of Shakespeare’s “Troilus and Cressida” in 2001, an acting director observed his potential and introduced Elba to many leading filmmakers. After several auditions, Elba finally got cast in The Wire.
“At the time it was a small role in a TV show,” he said. “It was a massive opportunity for A, me to come out of poverty and B, be seen in an HBO show. I don’t think it was ever written to be the legacy it’s become.”
People couldn’t get over Elba’s character Russell “Stringer” Bell in the “The Wire” series, and this helped open the door for bigger projects, such as playing Heimdall in Marvel’s “Thor” and “Avengers” films, and DCI John Luther in the BBC’s “Luther.”