Idris Elba no longer interested in playing James Bond

Idris Elba says he is no long interested in playing the spy hero.

Actor Idris Elba has said he is no more interested in playing the iconic role of James Bond. The 45-year-old actor said the reason for his disillusionment is as he believes “no one” wants to see him portray Agent 007, reported DigitalSpy. “I think not. But you really need to ask the producers. Like I can just (say), ‘Hey, I’m gonna play Bond next! No, it’s Idris. Hello?’ No one wants it,” Elba said in an interview with Buzzfeed.

Last month, Daniel Craig had confirmed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that he will return as James Bond in the 25th Bond movie. Craig also said that it would be the last time he would step in to play the fictitious British spy, created by Ian Fleming, saying, “I just want to go out on a high note, and I can’t wait.”

Only a few days ago George Clooney had said that Idris Elba would be the perfect James Bond. “I think Idris Elba should be the next James Bond,” he had said. “I think it’s insane that you wouldn’t. He’s elegant, handsome and masculine. He would be a perfect James Bond and it would be a great step forward,” he added.

Idris Elba meanwhile will be seen in The Mountain Between Us, a romance-disaster film alongside Kate Winslet. While Winslet portrays a soon-to-be married journalist named Alex Martin in the film, Elba plays a surgeon named Ben Bass. In The Mountain Between Us, Winslet and Elba’s characters after surviving a plane crash get stranded in High Uintas Wilderness.

(With inputs from PTI)