Movies from Idris Elba

The Jungle Book

Raised by wild animals since childhood, Mowgli is drawn away from the jungle by the beautiful Kitty. But Mowgli must eventually face corrupt Capt. Boone, who wants both Kitty's hand and the treasures of Monkey City – a place only Mowgli can find.
Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
What is my favourite classic animated movie...dudududu... what is my favourite... that's a good question. At the risk of sounding corny, I think it is The Jungle Book.
Movies from Idris Elba

Mary Poppins

A magical nanny employs music and adventure to help two neglected children become closer to their father.
Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
I loved Mary Poppins. Classic, man, just classic! The songs, the animation, amazin'.
Movies from Idris Elba

Marley

Bob Marley's universal appeal, impact on music history and role as a social and political prophet is both unique and unparalleled. Directed by Academy Award-winning director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland), MARLEY is the definitive life story of the musician, revolutionary, and legend, from his early days to his rise to international superstardom. Made with the support of the Marley family, the film features rare footage, incredible performances and revelatory interviews with the people that knew him best.
Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
What's your desert island film, book and album? Film: The Bob Marley documentary, Marley. Album: Colombo by raggae band Kulcha. Book: The Alchemist. It’s a great journey book.
Movies from Idris Elba

Animal Kingdom

Following the death of his mother, J finds himself living with his estranged family, under the watchful eye of his doting grandmother, Smurf, mother to the Cody boys. J quickly comes to believe that he is a player in this world. But, as he soon discovers, this world is far larger and more menacing than he could ever imagine. J finds himself at the center of a cold-blooded revenge plot that turns the family upside down.
Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
"Some of the performances in that film are some of the greatest performances I've seen in a long time. Ben Mendelsohn who plays 'Pope' in that film, these performances take you as an actor … you feel like you're watching real people."
Movies from Idris Elba

Prometheus

A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.
Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
If you can't see @PrometheusMovie in 3D, at least watch this trailer made out of paper.
Movies from Idris Elba

Once Upon a Time in America

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.
Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
I skipped school one afternoon when I was 16 to go see Once Upon a Time in America. I was inspired by Robert De Niro; I was blown away by his performance. The next day I told my acting teacher in school that I wanted to be like De Niro.
Movies from Idris Elba

Wonder Woman

An Amazon princess comes to the world of Man in the grips of the First World War to confront the forces of evil and bring an end to human conflict.
Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
Let’s be positive — it’s a character created for TV in the ’70s and she kicks ass in the movie. Change is incremental, O.K.? First, you can’t have a black guy kissing a white woman. But then you can have a light-skinned black kissing a white woman. And then it changes, you know. So first you can have a lead woman and she is the hero, but she has to be slightly sexualized. It’s going to change.
Movies from Idris Elba

Get Out

Chris and his girlfriend Rose go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
He said he thought that “Get Out,” a movie about white liberal racism, should have featured “an American brother who really feels that.”
Movies from Idris Elba

12 Years a Slave

In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.
Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
I personally don’t want to see any more slave films. I think it’s a time that’s been very well documented. ‘12 Years a Slave,’ although a genius movie, I just found it really hard to watch and didn’t want to go back down that road for the sake of entertainment. I think there are a lot more interesting stories that are less covered that we can spend our time on.
Movies from Idris Elba

GoodFellas

The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.
Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
For a long time it was Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, and then I saw a film called The Champ. It's a tearjerker of a movie, man. It's real old. There's this little boy, and he's yelling: "Come on, champ! You can get up in the ring again, champ!" It's a good one.
Books from Idris Elba

Genius

Trust no one. Every camera is an eye. Every microphone an ear. Find me and we can stop him together.The Game: Get ready for Zero Hour as 200 geniuses from around the world go head to head in a competition hand-devised by India's youngest CEO and visionary.The Players:Rex- One of the best programmers/hackers in the world, this 16-year-old Mexican-American is determined to find his missing brother.Tunde-This14-year-old self-taught engineering genius has drawn the attention of a ruthless military warlord by single-handedly bringing electricity and internet to his small Nigerian village.Painted Wolf-One of China's most respected activist bloggers, this mysterious 16-year-old is being pulled into the spotlight by her father's new deal with a corrupt Chinese official.The Stakes: Are higher than you can imagine. Like life and death. Welcome to the revolution. And get ready to run.
Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
Check out this book!
Books from Idris Elba

The Alchemist

A beautifully rendered stunning graphic novel of the classic that continues to inspire readers worldwide. Every few decades a book is published that changes the lives of its readers forever. The Alchemist has established itself as a modern classic, universally admired. Now for the first time, the phenomenal bestseller has been rendered as a graphic novel that will appeal to the millions of existing fans while also attracting a new generation of readers. The Alchemist is the magical tale of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the markets of Tangier and across the Egyptian desert to a fateful encounter with the alchemist. The story of the treasures Santiago finds along the way teaches us, as only a few stories have done, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and above all, following our dreams. 'It was an old dream of mine to have The Alchemist as a graphic novel. I had received several proposals but none of them came anywhere near the classical vision I have in my mind for a graphic format. When I saw Sea Lion Books' proposal however it took me less than half an hour to make my decision.'Paulo Coelho
Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
Book: The Alchemist. It’s a great journey book.
TV Shows from Idris Elba

The Office

Documentary-style sitcom set in the offices of a Slough paper merchant.
Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
My favourite tee-vee show, actually I was a massive fan of the original Office, The English Office. I just found that hilarious.
TV Shows from Idris Elba

Only Fools and Horses

The misadventures of two wheeler dealer brothers Del Boy and Rodney Trotter of “Trotters Independent Traders PLC” who scrape their living by selling dodgy goods believing that next year they will be millionaires.
Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
I grew up with the classic sitcoms like Only Fools And Horses. And they are a formula. It’s not just gag and gag and gag. There’s some heart. You care about the characters
TV Shows from Idris Elba

Bonanza

The High-Sierra adventures of Ben Cartwright and his sons as they run and defend their ranch while helping the surrounding community.
Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
When I worked with Daniel Craig [Cowboys & Aliens, 2011], he said that dressing up and playing a cowboy is universal, not just an American fantasy. Is it something that was appealing to you? ELBA: [laughs] Yeah, I mean, I used to watch Bonanza. Do you even know what that is?
TV Shows from Idris Elba

Everybody Hates Chris

Chris is a teenager growing up as the eldest of three children in Brooklyn, New York during the early 1980s. Uprooted to a new neighborhood and bused to a predominantly white middle school two-hours away by his strict, hard-working parents, Chris struggles to find his place while keeping his siblings in line at home and surmounting the challenges of junior high.
Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
In the Long Run, which is kind of like Everybody Hates Chris, based on my life in the ‘80s.
Music recommended by Idris Elba
6 songs

6 UK Artists Idris Elba Loves

So for our viewers who are maybe not familiar with British hip-hop can you give us your top 5 Dead or Alive UK Edition? Okay, I'm gonna say no particular order: Demon Boyz which some of you would not know but I was one of the first rap groups that I fell in love in England. I'm gonna put Blak Twang on there, I'm gonna put the London Posse on there, I'm gonna put Stormzy on there, I have to put Dizzee on there, I'm have to put gigs on there, I mean I know that six and I can count but it's just you know in terms of UK hip hop.
Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
So for our viewers who are maybe not familiar with British hip-hop can you give us your top 5 Dead or Alive UK Edition? Okay, I'm gonna say no particular order: Demon Boyz which some of you would not know but I was one of the first rap groups that I fell in love in England. I'm gonna put Blak Twang on there, I'm gonna put the London Posse on there, I'm gonna put Stormzy on there, I have to put Dizzee on there, I'm have to put gigs on there, I mean I know that six and I can count but it's just you know in terms of UK hip hop.
Music recommended by Idris Elba
8 songs

Idris Elba Favorite Music

Idris Elba is a talented musician himself and here is what he prefers to listen to while on set or touring.
Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
Idris Elba is a talented musician himself and here is what he prefers to listen to while on set or touring.
Music from Idris Elba

Darling I Need Your Loving — John Holt

Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
My favorite song of all time is “Darling I Need Your Loving” by an old reggae guy called John Holt.
Music from Idris Elba

How I Got Over

Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
I just got the new Roots album. Great work but I didn't even know there WAS a new Roots record. Even music buzz isn't used in the same way.
Music from Idris Elba

Cole World: The Sideline Story

Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
@JColeNC album is a good ride still.. I could have done without the songs from the tapes.. But the collective as a whole is Dope!! Wicked.
Music from Idris Elba

My Name Is My Name

Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
I'm listening to Pusha T's Album this morning. ..Gully music.
Music from Idris Elba

Black Messiah

Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
"Save your soul" music.
People from Idris Elba

Lady Gaga

Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
I'm goo goo for Gaga. Her show is Theater. Foundation.
People from Idris Elba

Ian Wright

Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
One of the greatest strikers Arsenal has ever seen.
People from Idris Elba

Robert De Niro

Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
I skipped school one afternoon when I was 16 to go see Once Upon a Time in America. I was inspired by Robert De Niro; I was blown away by his performance. The next day I told my acting teacher in school that I wanted to be like De Niro.
People from Idris Elba

Meryl Streep

Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
My celebrity crush is Meryl Streep. When I met her, my tongue swelled up in my mouth!
People recommended by Idris Elba
5 people

5 Actors Who Inspire Idris Elba

Elba grew up watching the black stars that black people worldwide, to say nothing of everyone else, were watching: Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Richard Roundtree. And later: early-career Wesley Snipes and, of course, Denzel Washington, who in the late ‘80s came to England to film For Queen and Country
Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
Elba grew up watching the black stars that black people worldwide, to say nothing of everyone else, were watching: Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Richard Roundtree. And later: early-career Wesley Snipes and, of course, Denzel Washington, who in the late ‘80s came to England to film For Queen and Country
People from Idris Elba

Daniel Day-Lewis

Idris Elba
Actor, Director, Musician
Daniel Day-Lewis is an incredible actor.