Idris Elba Reveals He Wants to Stop Acting So He Can ‘Be a Director Fully’

Idris Elba is looking to stay behind the camera.

The actor, 53, appeared at Q&A at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, Dec. 10, for his latest directorial project, the short film Dust To Dreams. It’s his first time directing since his 2018 feature Yardie, and he hopes to continue directing.

“I’m hoping that my fan base as an actor isn’t mad at me,” he said, according to the Daily Mail, before explaining, “Eventually I want to transfer to be a director fully.”

Elba, who has 130 acting credits to date, acknowledged he’s “been acting for a long time.” 

“I love it still, but I think directing allows me to flex slightly different muscles and just be a part of the set in a different way. I really enjoy it,” he said.

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The actor also briefly touched on his next feature as director, This Is How It Goes. The forthcoming Apple film is based on a 2005 Neil LaBute play.

“The original is about a Black man married to a white woman, and a white man comes to move into their house, and it’s about what happens to their relationship,” Elba said of the film, reports Deadline. “I bought the rights to the film and transposed the story. So it’s a white man married to a Black woman, and a Black man comes to live in their house. It’s an incredible examination of marriage, trust, and race.”

He filmed the project in Ghana and said the production “just finished last week.” 

Elba also confirmed during the Q&A that there’s no truth to reports that he’s being cast as the next James Bond.

However, Elba will still be acting in another film as Detective John Luther, his first since 2023’s Luther: The Fallen Sun. Filming on the new movie starts in February, reports The Hollywood Reporter. Elba has played the fictional U.K. detective off and on since 2010.

Although Elba is looking to make the pivot away from acting, he said in July on Amy Poehler’s podcast, Good Hang, that he considers the opportunity to work as an actor as a “privilege,” adding, “This ain’t work.”

“So when I get an opportunity to come work with you, to come work on a set, it doesn’t feel like work,” he said at the time. “Now everyone else is like, ‘You’re working really hard,’ but it’s not that hard.”