I come from an era, in my world, where you just had to define yourself as who you are and what you do. I happen to be an actor. I happen to be someone that loves to act, that also likes music, that also likes to speak, and that also has an opinion. Idris Elba More Quotes by Idris Elba More Quotes From Idris Elba Waking up in TRUTH is so much better than living in a lie. Idris Elba waking wake-up lying I'm an ambitious person. I never consider myself in competition with anyone, and I'm not saying that from an arrogant standpoint, it's just that my journey started so, so long ago, and I'm still on it and I won't stand still. Idris Elba long-ago competition journey What an honor it was to step into the shoes of Nelson Mandela and portray a man who defied odds, broke down barriers, and championed human rights before the eyes of the world. Idris Elba shoes eye men I'm never shaken or stirred. Idris Elba We're all human beings. Experience is experience, let's just be honest. Let's not try and dissect suffering into a race, or whatever you want to call it. We're all human beings, one way or another. All races have gone through times that are challenging; that's part of being a human. Idris Elba suffering challenges trying I'm rebelling against being handed a career, like, 'You're the next this; you're the next that.' I'm not the next anything, I'm the first me. I can't be myself, I can't just be Idris Elba. But that's just the nature of the business. Idris Elba next careers firsts My Father always told me that a fool at 40 is a fool for life. Idris Elba fool father I was always a real athletic kid. Then when I got older, I just figured it was part of life to keep training. Idris Elba athletic real kids I'm tactile, very tactile. A woman who has really nice, looked-after skin is such a turn-on for me. It's always sexy. Idris Elba sexy nice skins I've got two smoking guns that just look incredible, and I love to pull them out whenever I can. Idris Elba gun smoking two As much as it's nice to step into that massive world of Hollywood and be a big, famous actor, I prefer the career of actors that have really chosen smartly and done really amazing performances. Maybe they're not as known, but their careers are a bit more interesting. Idris Elba nice careers interesting I knew that if I wanted to be all I could be, I would have to go to the US. It took three years to get the accent right. Idris Elba accents three years The one album I can't live without is called 'Cumbolo' by a band called Culture. Every song on their album is deep, but there's one in particular called 'This Train.' I have a tattoo of the lyrics on my left arm. Idris Elba tattoo song culture The audience loves it when you pay attention to details. Idris Elba details pay attention Even when I went to America I didn't work for four years. It wasn't like I came to New York and it was the land of milk and honey. It was just as much of a hard graft. But there's a lot more opportunity nowadays across the board for actors, no matter what color you are, with the Internet and small productions. Idris Elba milk-and-honey new-york opportunity I love working. I'm a workaholic and I'm really privileged for some of the jobs I get offered and so I just want to keep going. Idris Elba workaholic want jobs I'm not interested in making all-black films - I come from a very diverse culture, I want to work with every type of person. I work a lot with women executives because they seem to be a lot more open minded about that and a lot more progressive in that way. Idris Elba black want culture The less I talk about being black, the better. Idris Elba black I'm not a popular actor. I don't necessarily want to be famous. I want to be known for great work. I want to be known to surprise audiences. Idris Elba surprise actors want You watch yourself age and it's hard to feel like a sex symbol. Idris Elba age watches sex
