Why Idris Elba Is Glad He Didn't Have Instant Success: 'It Wouldn't Be the Same'

Idris Elba may play a genie in his latest fantastical film, but there's one wish he wouldn't have granted himself: instant success.

"I'm so fortunate to have the life I have now," Elba tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. "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."

Still, the Three Thousand Years of Longing actor has no regrets about his longer path to stardom. "I don't think at this junction I would appreciate the way I am now 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]."

In Longing, Elba plays a genie awoken by a shocked mythology professor (Tilda Swinton) after she buys a glass bottle at a Turkish market. The George Miller–directed tale finds Elba's frustrated genie (or djinn, as he's called in the film) recounting a never-ending quest for freedom as he pleas for Swinton's skeptical scholar to make her three wishes.

"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."

RELATED: Idris Elba Says Daughter Isan Didn't Speak to Him for Weeks After Not Getting a Part in Beast

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Offscreen, the 49-year-old British star has built an impressively diverse film roster, jumping from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (as Heimdall) to the DC Universe (as The Suicide Squad's Bloodsport) to powerful dramas like Concrete Cowboy and Beasts of No Nation.

But the former Sexiest Man Alive has been open about the hardships he faced earlier in his career, which launched with critically acclaimed roles on television shows like The Wire and Luther.

Metro Goldwyn Mayer

When first arriving to the U.S., Elba worked as a DJ and a doorman at a comedy club, even selling weed to get by, he told The Jess Cagle Show earlier this year. "It just all fell flat on its face very quickly for about four years," he said. "In that time period, I did a lot of things that I'm not proud of."

In 2013, Elba called those early years a "wickedly tough time" in an interview with Playboy, revealing he experienced homelessness, living in a van "for about three months."

Fast-forward, and the Golden Globe winner has released three movies this summer alone: Longing, Beast and Thor: Love & Thunder, in which he had a surprise cameo.

In April, the star celebrated three years of marriage with Sabrina Dhowre, with whom he launched an Audible relationship podcast called Coupledom. He is also dad to daughter Isan, 20, and son Winston, 8, from past relationships.

And Elba — who began spinning records as a teenager and memorably DJ-ed at Coachella and at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding after-party — still finds solace in music.

In his time off, "I go into my music studio and I open my laptop. I don't know what I'm about to make, but I'm going to make some music. That's like my love language right there," he says.

Three Thousand Years of Longing is in theaters Friday.

For more on Elba and Swinton, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.