The actor was PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2018.
Idrissa Akuna Elba OBE, professionally known as Idris Elba, is a famous British actor known for his iconic roles in movies including Luther, Beast, The Suicide Squad, Bastille Day, The Wire, The Harder They Fall, Obsessed, Pacific Rim, Takers, and Prometheus.
Recently, during one of his interviews with ET Canada, the 50-year-old actor discussed his ‘hardest role’ ever as the ‘sexiest man alive.’
“My hardest role ever,” he joked. “I said to the photographer: “I don’t always photograph great in pictures, this picture needs to be great.”
The Luther star recalled that the photographer and his crew told him they had done this a ‘million times’ so he didn’t need to worry.
“[They’re like] ‘No, no, no. We’ve done this a million times, we know how to do it.’ And I was like, ‘Ok, I’ll just be me,’” he added. “Then they do this sort of thing where they make your favorite camera angle work for the cover.”
According to PEOPLE, “Elba’s face appeared on one of over 30 Sexiest Man Alive covers. The first to be given the honor was Mel Gibson back in 1985, and in recent years, the honor has gone to the likes of Chris Evans, Paul Rudd, Michael B. Jordan, and John Legend, to name a few.”
He said it was a big deal for him to earn the title in 2018, and he was surprised at first.
“I was like, ‘Come on, no way. Really?'” he told PEOPLE at the time. “[I] looked in the mirror, I checked myself out. I was like, ‘Yeah, you are kind of sexy today.’ But to be honest, it was just a nice feeling. It was a nice surprise — an ego boost for sure.”
Elba’s comments about being the sexiest man alive came after he shut down long-running rumors about him being featured as James Bond in the new 007 films.
“I don’t presume that everyone knows who I am, even though I’ve been acting for a long time,” he said.
“When I look in the mirror, it’s just a guy that was trying to be an actor. So if I walk into a restaurant in the middle of Belgium, I’m not expecting everyone to recognize me.”
Previously, Idris told The Guardian that he was “nowhere near being cast as Bond following the exit of Daniel Craig from the franchise.”
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