Idris Elba Is Ready For One More Notch on His Belt

The actor/DJ/musician talks his new clothing endeavours and more. HYPEBEAST Features - Go in-depth and learn more about the culture. [HYPEBEAST]( [Features]( July 26, 2019 [Idris Elba Is Ready For One More Notch on His Belt]( The actor/DJ/musician talks his new clothing endeavours and more. 2 HOUR SET [Idris Elba]( is one of the world’s most recognizable faces. Having starred in everything from the Thor and [Avengers]( films to The Wire to the upcoming Hobbs and Shaw, the actor is seemingly everywhere. But Elba has always made hobbies other than acting part of his public persona: whether it’s taking part in a [drag race challenge]( taking part in a [pro muay thai bout]( or DJ’ing, he’s clearly not a man to be held back by labels. When asked about why he’d decided to take up these disparate tasks, Elba was self-deprecating. “Mid-life crisis,” he said. He goes on to expand that the ability to test himself was what really intrigued him about those activities. “When you’re acting you often walk onto the set and they are like, ‘Okay, in this scene you’re fencing and you have to look like you’re really good,’ and then you have a crash course in fencing like 10 minutes to do that one shot,” he says. These short lessons led Elba to want to find out how his skills would hold up against real competition. “I was definitely curious about [kickboxing]. ‘Can I do that? Can I actually do that?’ I can do it in films and make it look good, but can I actually go toe-to-toe?” Elba answered those internal questions about his ability definitively via a first-round knockout against Lionel Graves at Bethnal Green’s famous York Hall venue. But while it may be easy to hone in on the machismo related to these acts, it’s worth questioning why a successful actor would want to even put himself at risk of an embarrassing moment in the search for more. This is not an opportunistic thing for me, I generally like what I’m creating. I generally feel like I can contribute. 2 HOUR SET “I’ve been acting for a long time,” Elba says. And with this comes limitations put upon him that the actor himself doesn’t agree with. “You can get categorized. There’s things I like to do creatively and own them and be comfortable with them: music, production, directing, writing. I think the creative lane for me maybe has a little acting, a little directing, all of these other components together.” The desire to do something different explains Elba’s move into directing, where he can combine his interests. “The good news with a film, for example, is that I can be director, actor, music supervisor and designer — even interior designer if I want.” One of the other factors in taking on all these roles for Elba the opportunity for collaboration, something he says is important for him in choosing directors — be they experienced auteurs or newer names. [READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON HYPEBEAST →]( [banner]( [banner](   [More HYPEBEAST Features]( [[FASHION]( [8 Drops You Don't Want to Miss This Week]( [[FASHION]( [Staffsnaps: maharishi NYC]( [Get The App Free on iOS and Android]( Follow --------------------------------------------------------------- 2019 HYPEBEAST Limited. All Rights Reserved [Manage Subscriptions]( You are receiving this email because you have subscribed to HYPEBEAST's marketing emails. You can unsubscribe from us any time by clicking [here](. It may take 48 hours to complete the unsubscribe process. Contact subscription@hypebeast.com for assistance on any enquiries. Our Mailing Address: HYPEBEAST, 10F, KC 100, 100 Kwai Cheong Road, Kwai Chung, Hong Kong