Idris Elba thinks the next James Bond could be a Black woman

Though the Internet wants him to be the first "Black Bond," Elba has a better idea of who should play the spy legend.

Jan 22, 2018

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Though the Internet ceremoniously cast Idris Elba as the unofficial “Black” James Bond, the British actor has a better idea of who should play the spy legend: a Black woman.

When asked about the possibility of him stepping into the role of 007, Elba distanced himself from the project. Instead, he said, the franchise should go in an entirely new direction.

“Are we interested in having a Bond character other than being a male?” he told Variety. “Could be a woman, could be a Black woman, could be a white woman, but I think, that character, everybody would like to see it have — do something different with it, why not?”

The director’s chair

Elba’s comments were made during the Sundance Film Festival, where he made his directorial debut with his upcoming feature film, Yardie.

The project is a film adaptation of the 1992 novel with the same name.

“When the opportunity came, I read the script and realized that everything that was in the script I could certainly amplify with some truth,” Elba, who is African East London, told Deadline.

“I was there in that time period. I know the people the book was about. I’ve met these people and been in the areas. So I felt like this was something that wasn’t going to be too much of a departure from who I am.”