Idris Elba doesn’t plan to act forever. The Luther star will eventually retire from the craft to direct, he revealed at the 2025 Red Sea International Film Festival on Wednesday.
“I’ve 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.” Elba said in a festival Q&A in Saudi Arabia, per Daily Mail. “I really enjoy it.”
Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.
Elba attended the event to promote Dust to Dreams, a short film he directed that features musician Seal. He previously directed the 2018 crime movie Yardie.
“I’m hoping that my fan base as an actor isn’t mad at me,” Elba continued. “Eventually I want to transfer to be a director fully.”
He explained that he was camera on a movie he just completed, called This Is How It Goes. He shot his take on the 2005 Neil LaBute play in Ghana.
Elba’s professional credits date back to the mid-’90s. His best-known projects include police drama Luther — he was nominated for an acting Emmy four times for the TV version — as well as movies such as Beasts of No Nation, Zootopia, and the Thor franchise.
Des Willie/BBCAmerica
Elba, 53, also told reporters that he feels “like an imposter in the political arena,” and he might also want to make his learning on that front a formal process.
“There is a possibility that I may go to school and just study human science, not political science, because I think humans respond to humans regardless of whether it’s politics or sports. It’s about humans,” he said. “I’d like to maybe study that so that I can be more effective when it comes to some of the philanthropy work I’ve been doing and some of the activism work.”
The self-professed workaholic is expected to return to acting for a second Luther movie, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Production is scheduled to begin in February.
Elba also confirmed — once again — that he will not be taking on the famous part of James Bond.