10 Roles We Love From Idris Elba: 'Luther', 'The Suicide Squad' & More | THR Video - video Dailymotion

The Hollywood Reporter

From a brilliant, hot-headed detective, to an iconic human-rights activist and a supervillain. Here are 10 roles we love from Idris Elba.

Transcript

00:00 - I'm coming for you.

00:02 - Not if I come for you first.

00:04 - From a genius detective,

00:07 to an iconic human rights activist,

00:09 to even a super villain,

00:11 here are 10 roles we love from Idris Elba.

00:13 (upbeat music)

00:16 Elba played Russell Stringer Bell

00:18 in the Baltimore-set crime drama, "The Wire,"

00:20 from 2002 to 2004.

00:23 Stringer was a drug dealer with entrepreneurial aspirations

00:26 who attempted to legitimize

00:27 a narcotics-stealing Barksdale organization.

00:30 - We done worrying about territory, man.

00:32 What corner we got, what project.

00:34 Game ain't about that no more.

00:36 It's about product.

00:37 - From 2010 to 2019, Elba starred

00:39 in the psychological crime thriller TV series, "Luther."

00:42 The actor played Detective Chief Inspector John Luther,

00:46 a brilliant, driven murder detective

00:47 who's both hyper-rational and overly emotional,

00:51 and sometimes resorts to violence.

00:53 The Hollywood Reporter's review of the series

00:54 when it first premiered called Elba, quote,

00:56 "The perfect choice for the title role,"

00:58 saying it's hard to conceive the show without him.

01:01 - Why don't you put the detonator down?

01:03 - Oh, no, I can't do that.

01:05 - Yes, you can.

01:06 - He reprised the role in the 2023 film,

01:08 "Luther, The Fallen Son."

01:10 2011's "Thor" saw Elba make

01:12 his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut

01:14 as the all-seeing and all-hearing Heimdall,

01:16 the guardian of the bridge into Asgard.

01:18 - Never has an enemy slipped my watch until this day.

01:24 I wish to know how that happened.

01:28 - He went on to play the character

01:29 in "Thor, The Dark World," "Avengers Age of Ultron,"

01:32 "Thor Ragnarok," "Avengers Infinity War,"

01:35 and "Thor, Love and Thunder."

01:36 In 2013, Elba portrayed Nelson Mandela,

01:39 the father of South African freedom,

01:41 in "Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom."

01:43 According to THR's review, quote,

01:45 "It takes a commanding actor to fill the shoes of the man

01:47 most instrumental in ending institutionalized oppression

01:50 in South Africa, and the charismatic Elba

01:53 proves equal to the task."

01:54 The review went on to say,

01:56 "While Elba's gifts have been tapped in his television work

01:58 on 'The Wire' and 'Luther,' few, if any,

02:01 films have showcased the British actor's range

02:03 quite so expansively as 'Mandela.'"

02:06 - We no longer accept the authority of a state

02:10 that makes war on its own people.

02:13 - 2015's "Beasts of No Nation" saw Elba play the leader

02:18 of an anti-government force made up of young men.

02:20 The group ruthlessly attacks the general populace

02:23 in an unnamed country, as well as government forces

02:25 when they find them, making for a constant life of warfare.

02:28 THR's review said of Elba's performance in the film,

02:31 quote, "The actor keeps pushing his characterization

02:34 further and further to the rather surprising end,

02:36 never taking the easy way."

02:38 - It has awakened a giant.

02:40 It has put the weapons of this war

02:42 back in the hands of you, the young,

02:45 and therefore, the powerful.

02:48 - Elba has also done his fair share of voiceover work

02:50 over the years, including voicing Chief Bogo

02:53 in 2016's "Zootopia" and the menacing tiger Shere Khan

02:57 in the 2016 remake of "The Jungle Book."

03:00 - Either I'll devour you or the red flower will.

03:03 It's just a matter of time.

03:07 - 2017's "Molly's Game" told the story of the woman

03:09 who once ran the most illustrious poker games in Los Angeles.

03:13 Elba took on the role of her sharp attorney, Charlie,

03:15 who Jessica Chastain's character Molly enlists for help

03:18 after she's arrested by the FBI.

03:20 - Where are the people you're protecting

03:21 by not telling the whole story in the book,

03:23 by selling the Brad Marians suit,

03:25 by not taking $5 million of your own money,

03:28 by going to jail?

03:29 Where did everybody go?

03:30 - The 2021 DC film "The Suicide Squad"

03:33 saw Elba play Bloodsport, a mercenary

03:35 who's the most reluctant member of the squad,

03:37 aka Task Force X, but also its logical leader.

03:41 The movie sees Bloodsport and Task Force X

03:43 get sent to a fictional island nation

03:45 where a mysterious science facility

03:47 houses something they must destroy

03:49 called Project Starfish.

03:51 - You're gonna send my 14-year-old daughter to prison?

03:53 - No.

03:53 Your daughter is 16, Dubois.

03:56 You're real father of the year.

03:59 - Fine, you know what?

03:59 Tyler needs to grow up anyway.

04:01 - Elba played the notorious armed robber Rufus Buck

04:03 in 2021's "The Harder They Fall,"

04:05 an action-adventure set in the Old West.

04:08 Most of the film's main characters, like Buck,

04:10 were real historical figures,

04:12 but they lived in various times during the 19th century,

04:15 and most likely never met one another.

04:17 According to THR's review, quote,

04:18 "The cast has chemistry in all directions,

04:21 "between the romantic match-ups,

04:22 "but just as much among the menfolk

04:24 "as they bicker, bond, and berate one another."

04:27 - Open it.

04:29 - Please.

04:34 - For much more on Idris Elba's career,

04:37 go to THR.com.

04:39 This is The Hollywood Reporter News.

04:41 (upbeat music)

10 Roles We Love From Idris Elba: 'Luther', 'The Suicide Squad' & More | THR Video

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