Idris Elba

“Television has shied away from being too dark, because so much has happened to us recently here in the West, and people are sort of wanting to see more uplifting sorts of things.”

“I have one of these bodies. When I was younger, I could never put weight on, and now that I'm a little older, there's a natural sort of chubbiness coming. But honestly, if I work out for a week, it drops off in no time.”

“Because I was big, I didn't have to listen to anyone doubting me. I was just considered good at football or whatever, there were no questions about it.”

“Every single film I've done, it's about the character.”

“Sean Connery wasn't the Scottish James Bond and Daniel Craig wasn't the blue-eyed James Bond. So if I played him, I don't want to be called the black James Bond.”

“Yeah, I know, any time you hear an actor say, 'I do music', you cringe. But I want to be gradual with my music. I want to earn my stripes.”

“What really excites me in a project is when it goes in a way you haven't been before.”

“I try to fit in workouts whenever I can.”

“I've been DJing mostly, and most DJs end up producing. That's just me.”

“Not obsessed with particularly Nike, but sneakers in general. I love them.”

“I was into Spider Man when I was a kid and that was the only comic I've ever read.”

“It was deeply important for me to understand where Mandela came from. Because we know where he was going, and that's a famous story, but who was he? Where did he come from? What was his upbringing?”

“The role of my agent has just been to get me in the room. If I can get in the room - say the character is just a charming man who lives next door - then I'll walk in there and be as charming as I can and they will think to themselves, 'I don't see why we can't cast him.'”

“When I was a kid, I thought it was tough.”

“Are there differences between black actors' opportunities and white actors' opportunities? Yes, there are. It's been said.”

“White actors still get way more money in Hollywood. It's been that way for a very long time. I hope it'll change, but it's a matter of forcing that change.”

“I've never had to explain 'Prometheus' to people, ever. Most people get it.”

“I was cast in 'Thor' and I'm cast as a Nordic god. If you know anything about the Nords, they don't look like me but there you go. I think that's a sign of the times for the future. I think we will see multi-level casting. I think we will see that, and I think that's good.”

“I want to go to Sierra Leone with something - whether it's some sort of contribution to healthcare, or to the entertainment industry. My cousin is a nurse; we are talking about opening a clinic.”

“As an actor, you're trained to do the right thing, be politically correct, say your lines, say the right thing about the people you're working with.”