Idris Elba is a bonafide movie star these days, but that didn’t happen overnight.
Speaking with People recently, The “Three Thousand Years of Longing” actor spoke candidly about his long and winding road to stardom. “I’m so fortunate to have the life I have now,” he said. “It has been, though, the hardest and toughest journey. Back then, I would’ve wished to get here quicker without having to go through some of the trauma.”
However, the “Thor” actor wouldn’t have changed that track for anything. “I don’t think at this junction I would appreciate the way I am no having not gone through that journey. I really do think that all the things that I have I would’ve wished for as a young man, it wouldn’t be the same if I got it [back then].”
Opening this week, “Three Thousand Years of Longing,” directed by George Miller, finds Elba playing a genie that’s awoken by Tilda Swinton’s mythology professor after purchasing a bottle at a Turkish market.
Swinton told People her and Elba hit it off immediately. “When you meet someone and you become a close long friend instantly, it’s pretty magical,” says Swinton. “And I really feel this about Idris. He really feels like a brother.”
Magic onscreen and off.
Besides being an accomplished and celebrated actor, Elba is also a DJ and father of two. He married Sabrina Dhowre in 2019.
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