Idris Elba Recalls the Awkward Way He Learned His Character's Fate on “The Wire”: 'It Was Tough Love'

"If you go in, you cannot let them know you aren't American," the British star said, recalling what he was told while auditioning for the HBO series

One of the most shocking TV deaths of all time remains Russell "Stringer" Bell on The Wire — and it was surprising to Idris Elba, too.

Elba, 51, appeared on Thursday’s episode of Spotify’s What Now? with Trevor Noah podcast and reflected on the breakout moment of his career when he starred in the acclaimed HBO drama The Wire.

While the British actor remembered the whirlwind experience of going from being a struggling actor to playing the business-savvy criminal Stringer Bell fondly, he admitted that it was a complete surprise when his character was killed off in season 3.

“I didn't know my character was gonna die until we got the episode,” Elba told Noah, 40.

He jokingly added, “It was tough love.”

Related: The Cast of 'The Wire': Where Are They Now?

After explaining that "it was scary” and “a tough pill to swallow” to suddenly lose his leading role on a hit series and work less frequently for a period, the former Luther star detailed how he found out about Stringer’s fate.

Elba recalled, “You usually get your scripts, you know, like two, three in a row, they write them. And I think the way I got it, I got episode seven. I was like, ‘Oh, um, episode seven. I got episode seven. Where's eight? Can I get eight? What's wrong?’”

“‘Uh, you're not, not, you're not in eight,’” he continued, reenacting his interaction with the showrunners at the time. “‘What do you mean? I'm not in eight?’ ‘You should read, you should read it.’ That's how I kind of found out.”

The Beast star also opened up about when he first landed his role on The Wire — which involved lying about his accent throughout nearly the entire audition process.

Related: Idris Elba Jokes He Got ‘Kicked Out’ of Robert De Niro’s Office in ‘I Am an Actor’ SAG Awards 2024 Monologue

The Emmy-nominated actor recalled, “There's one casting director, I talk about it all the time, Alexa Fogel. She would put me up for stuff and she said, ‘Hey, listen. This Wire thing's come up. It's called The Wire. It's a pilot. They're going to shoot it in January. But if you go in, you cannot let them know you aren't American because they will not — I mean, this is about Baltimore. It's very specific. They don't want any strangers. I mean, please.’"

Elba explained that it was no problem, as he had picked up an American accent living in New Jersey and Brooklyn and working as a bouncer/DJ — but was stunned during the fourth and final audition when the producers asked him, “Where are you from?”

He said he was sweating and thought to himself, “They told you, ‘Don’t say nothing.’” He continued, “I’m thinking, ‘Your accent is shit. They sus-ed you.’ I look at him and I said, ‘I'm from East London. The room just exploded.’"

Ultimately, the Marvel actor revealed that showrunners wanted to know because they had placed bets on whether or not he was lying about being American and ended up offering him the role of Stringer on the spot, despite auditioning for Avon.

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The Wire marked Elba’s first major role on a U.S. series. During the show’s five-season run from 2002 to 2008, he appeared on seasons 1 through 3 before his character was shot to death by Omar (Michael K. Williams) and Mouzone (Michael Potts).

Elba and The Wire creator David Simon have previously reflected on the actor/musician’s exit from the series in interviews.

In a 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Simon, 64, shared that Elba was vocal about how disappointed he was to have to leave the show and said, “Boo,” on set as he was being zipped into a body bag.

“We all just fell out laughing,” Simon said. “It was one of the most charming things I’d ever seen.”

The showrunner explained that his death was largely “to make a political point,” considering how Stringer attempted “to reform the drug war” when “it’s un-reformable.”

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