Quotes by Idris Elba

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

Wisdom

It's really funny because the same people who loved me as Stringer Bell were the same people that were watching 'Daddy's Little Girls' literally in tears.

— Idris Elba

Wisdom

I get criticized for taking roles in films like 'Ghost Rider 2', but if you look at my resume, dude, I've mixed it up as much as I can.

— Idris Elba

Wisdom

If I was gonna go to jail, I don't want to go to jail for stealing a bottle of water. I'll steal that $20 million. At least then it was worth it.

— Idris Elba

Wisdom

I love bikes. I used to own one, but I fell off it when I was younger and that was the end of my bike riding days until now.

— Idris Elba

Love

In 'Pacific Rim' I had to have a haircut I wouldn't usually rock. However, the moustache I had in the film - that might have to come out again. It was a good moustache. Good times.

— Idris Elba

Wisdom

When I look at my body of work, I've played a lot of characters who are morally conflicted - 'I'm right, no I'm wrong, I don't know what to do!' I want to play more characters who don't care as much, and who aren't as measured. They are what they are, no apologies.

— Idris Elba

Success

Not obsessed with particularly Nike, but sneakers in general. I love them.

— Idris Elba

Love

The only thing I change mainly is my sneakers. I love sneakers. But everything's sort of black or jeans. Jeans, always.

— Idris Elba

Love

There's a fast-track if you can do the networking. For some personalities it works, but for mine it doesn't.

— Idris Elba

Success

Yeah, I know, any time you hear an actor say, 'I do music', you cringe. But I want to be gradual with my music. I want to earn my stripes.

— Idris Elba

Wisdom

Twenty or 30 years from now, I'm going to be on a beach in Jamaica.

— Idris Elba

Wisdom

You watch yourself age and it's hard to feel like a sex symbol.

— Idris Elba

Wisdom

I don't have a place that I call home at the moment because there's no point. I mean, I'm a traveling circus for a while. It's weird. Like, if I wanted to go home, there's nowhere to go. I just go to a hotel. But I've kind of gotten used to it.

— Idris Elba

Wisdom

Bond? It is a bit like saying, 'Do you want to play Superman?' Anyone would dream of it. It's one of the most coveted roles in film. I'd be honoured. But I don't know if it will actually happen. I'm just happy with the idea of being associated with it. It's nice there's a lot of good will.

— Idris Elba

Happiness

I want to go to Sierra Leone with something - whether it's some sort of contribution to healthcare, or to the entertainment industry. My cousin is a nurse; we are talking about opening a clinic.

— Idris Elba

Wisdom

If you go to Africa and you're white, you're probably not going to get that much work either. But the fact is that there is a longer history of black integration in the U.S. I don't have any resentment about this: I did the maths, calculated it against my ambition and decided to leave England.

— Idris Elba

Success

I'm a little sheepish about it. Whenever I meet fans and they're like, 'Oh, you're so sexy,' I just don't get that. There's no way one man can be universally sexy.

— Idris Elba

Wisdom

As an actor, you're trained to do the right thing, be politically correct, say your lines, say the right thing about the people you're working with.

— Idris Elba

Success

The English are good at bad guys - the James Bond-style villain, cunning, slow-burning. The Americans are much more obvious about it.

— Idris Elba

Wisdom

Are there differences between black actors' opportunities and white actors' opportunities? Yes, there are. It's been said.

— Idris Elba

Wisdom

Every single film I've done, it's about the character.

— Idris Elba

Wisdom

I don't get recognised that much yet in London, but when I do I get a real sense of achievement.

— Idris Elba

Success

I knew that if I wanted to be all I could be, I would have to go to the U.S. It took three years to get the accent right.

— Idris Elba

Wisdom