Being a celebrity’s child comes with a lot of questions and expectations, as viewers subconsciously watch to see if they’ll follow in their parents’ footsteps in entertainment, etc. However, for Isan Elba, daughter of Idris Elba, fans wonder about one thing in particular: her accent.
Unlike her British father, who has risen to fame in America for his acting skills, attractive looks, and swoon-worthy accent, Isan shows no traces of an international accent. In a recent Instagram video, the 24-year-old content creator addressed her most-asked question.
“Almost every time I open my mouth, you guys are confused as to why I don’t have a British accent. And it made me think. You guys don’t know s—t about me,” she admitted in the sit-down video. “Both of my parents are from Europe, but they moved to Jersey City, and that’s where they had me. I grew up there until I was 4, and my mom and I moved to Atlanta, Georgia, hence the accent. I am very ATL.”
Isan is the actor’s eldest child, whom he shares with his ex-wife Hanne “Kim” Nørgaard, a half Black, half Korean makeup artist who was adopted by a Danish family. Coming from a cacophony of cultures, family lore appears very complex as Isan explains more of her backstory and about growing up with her Danish grandparents.
“My grandfather does not even speak a lick of English,” she emphasized before explaining further, “My whole life, I thought I wanted to be an actor until I came with my dad on set for a movie he was directing. It was the first time I really got to see what happens behind the camera, and I fell in love. So I decided to go to NYU for film school, and currently, I run a nonprofit, I create videos online, and I’m a DJ. I’ve been a creator for five years, a DJ for three years, and a social impact founder for about a year and a half now, and I have very interesting stories as to how I got into all those careers.”
Prepared to share more with audiences, Elba shared the playful teased frustrations on social media, captioning the video as “Now PLEASEEEEE stop asking me why I have an American accent.”
