Idris Elba Explains Why He 'Stopped Describing Myself as a Black Actor': 'It Put Me in a Box'

Pietro S. D'Aprano/Getty Idris Elba

Idris Elba is opening up about why he doesn't refer to himself as a "Black actor" anymore.

In a new feature for the spring 2023 issue of Esquire UK, the 50-year-old actor addressed racism he has experienced in his career, while adding that he has "stopped describing myself as a Black actor when I realized it put me in a box."

"We've got to grow. We've got to. Our skin is no more than that: it's just skin," he added.

For the Luther: The Fallen Sun star, he "accept(s) that it is part of my journey to be aware that, in many cases, I might be the first to look like me to do a certain thing."

"And that's good, to leave as part of my legacy," Elba explained. "So that other people, Black kids, but also White kids growing up in the circumstances I grew up in, are able to see there was a kid who came from Canning Town who ended up doing what I do. It can be done."

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Elba also said that while he realizes "racism is very real," he believes that "if we spent half the time not talking about the differences but the similarities between us, the entire planet would have a shift in the way we deal with each other."

"As humans, we are obsessed with race," the British actor continued. "And that obsession can really hinder people's aspirations, hinder people's growth."

"Racism should be a topic for discussion, sure. Racism is very real. But from my perspective, it's only as powerful as you allow it to be," he added.

Elba said he didn't choose his profession because he "didn't see Black people doing it and I wanted to change that" — instead, "I did it because I thought that's a great profession and I could do a good job at it."

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"As you get up the ladder, you get asked what it's like to be the first Black to do this or that. Well, it's the same as it would be if I were White," he explained. "It's the first time for me. I don't want to be the first Black. I'm the first Idris."

The Beast actor revealed that he gets asked a lot whether he has ever experienced racism ("Yeah"), but noted, "I don't go to my Black friends, in conversation, and ask them to tell me about racism."

But, he added, he's "not any more Black because I'm in a White area, or more Black because I'm in a Black area. I'm Black."

"And that skin stays with me no matter where I go, every day, through Black areas with White people in it, or White areas with Black people in it. I'm the same Black," Elba said.