Trivia

Is an only child of African immigrants to England. His father was from Sierra Leone and his mother was from Ghana. His name is of Krio African origin.

Nominated for the 2011 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series category for his role as Lenny Charles in The Big C (2010), but lost out to Justin Timberlake.

Disc jockey under the name "Big Driis the Londoner".

He co-produced and performed the intro on rapper Jay-Z's album "American Gangster" (2007).

In the 1980s, he worked for Ford of Britain, as did his father who worked for the Ford company for 25 years; in 2019, he became the spokesperson for Ford's electric vehicles.

Became a father for the second time at age 41 when his girlfriend Naiyana Garth gave birth to their son Winston Elba on April 17, 2014.

When he first moved to New York City as a budding actor in the late 1990s, he summarily worked as a bouncer at Caroline's Comedy Club on Broadway. Has no formal acting training.

Has been a huge fan of Arsenal Football Club since age 15. His father is a supporter of Manchester United Football Club (interview on arsenal.com website February 2010).

Revealed (by not denying) on The Graham Norton Show (2007) that he has a foot fetish. Kate Winslet discovered this while filming a love scene for Más allá de la montaña (2017).

Former member of the National Youth Music Theatre.

Attended Barking and Dagenham College summarily where he studied performing arts.

He appeared on the Black Entertainment Television (BET) special Black Men: The Truth (2007).

Daniel Craig is the person who suggested that Idris could be the next James Bond, saying he would be fantastic. In response to fans that have suggested him as a candidate for James Bond, Idris himself responded that he has no interest in pursuing the role.

He broke a land speed record for the Pendine Sands "Flying Mile" course, drove a dragster, and piloted an airplane in his documentary miniseries Idris Elba: No Limits (2015). An avid rally fan, he competed with the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship as well as starred in the miniseries, where he races a rally car with help by Ari Vatanen.

For his role in Beasts of No Nation (2015), he's the first (and, as of 2016, the only) winner of the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) award for Best Supporting Actor in a motion picture not to receive an Academy Award nomination for the same performance.

Has worked with Ron Perlman in the monster movie Titanes del Pacífico (2013). Both stars appeared in the very popular Star Trek series. Perlman appeared in Némesis (2002) and Elba appeared in Star Trek sin límites (2016).

Has worked with Tom Hardy in the crime comedy RocknRolla (2008). Both stars appeared in the very popular Star Trek series. Hardy appeared in Némesis (2002) and Elba appeared in Star Trek sin límites (2016).

Has played a spaceship commander in two dissimilar sci-fi films: Captain Janek of the spaceship Prometheus in the movie Prometeo (2012), and Captain Balthazar Edison of the starship USS Franklin in Star Trek sin límites (2016).

On January 16, 2016, Elba attended the Parliament of the United Kingdom regarding the concern of the need of diversity on screen. He said: "Change is coming and it's taking its sweet time". He spoke about the need of diversity regarding race, gender and sexuality.

On June 23, 2016, along with Sir John Hurt, Helena Bonham Carter, Keira Knightley and Cara Delevingne, Elba announced his support for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union for the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum.

On October 23, 2017, alongside television presenter Layla Anna-Lee, he hosted The Best FIFA Football Awards in the London Paladium, during which he took a selfie of "the best team in the world" which included Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar Jr..

First met his wife-to-be model Sabrina Dhowre Elba at a party while shooting Más allá de la montaña (2017). On February 10, 2018, the couple announced their engagement in London (UK) and married on April 26, 2019 in a secret wedding ceremony in Marrakesh.

Not only has he and his fiancee Sabrina Dhowre Elba attended the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on May 19, 2018, but Elba as disc jockey played the reception at the invitation of Harry and Meghan delivering a customized playlist as ordered by the bride.

On March 16, 2020, Elba said he and his wife Sabrina Dhowre Elba have tested positive for COVID-19 among the pandemic. During his quarantine period, he noted that he had been suffering from asthma all his life, thus placing him in the high-risk category of the disease. On March 31, Elba announced both he and his wife had reached the fortnight quarantine period.

In April 2009, The Prince's Trust, a leading youth charity which Elba credits with launching his career, appointed him their anti-crime ambassador. He was also appointed to serve on the Board of Governors for the British Film Institute, a charitable organisation, from 2018 - 2022.

Her performed the spoken-word intro on Taylor Swift's reggae fusion song "London Boy" from her album "Lover" (2019). He also worked opposite the singer-songwriter in director Tom Hooper's adaptation of the fantasy musical Cats (2019).

He and his wife Sabrina Dhowre Elba were awarded the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum (WEF), an international non-governmental organization, for their work on environmental conservation, food security and climate change. (17 de enero de 2023)

Movement Electronic Music Festival in Detroit, Michigan announced that Elba would be performing a back-to-back DJ mixset with veteran electronic dance music (EDM) disc jockey and record producer Kevin Saunderson. (24 de enero de 2024)

Elba began his own sound label Sound International inspired by his uncle's legendary Sound System from 1980s London which had an open-minded approach to music; the label endeavors to showcase house music talent from around the world, with a goal to sign records from every country, highlighting the global unity and freedom within the house music genre. (8 de octubre de 2024)

It was announced that Elba invested into Kiro Race Co, a racing team currently competing into the FIA Formula E World Championship. Has discussed his experience with dyslexia making this hard to read scripts, which lead him to help develop a device that allows audio script reading for young people. (11 de febrero de 2025)

He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2016 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to drama. He is an actor in London, England.

Pictured as the character Krall as one of a set of 18 British commemorative postage stamps issued 13 November 2020, celebrating "Star Trek" television and film franchise. Stamps were issued as 12 individual stamps, honoring captains and crew members; and 6 stamps in a single souvenir sheet, highlighting heroes and villains. All stamps were nondenominated and marked first class (76p on day of issue). Others honored by this set are William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, Scott Bakula, Jason Isaacs, Leonard Nimoy, Marina Sirtis, Alexander Siddig, Dominic Keating, Seth Hippen, Shazad Latif, Simon Pegg, Tom Hardy, Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, and Alice Eve. Every stamps celebrates a starship or space station commander (James T. Kirk, Jean-Luc Picard, Benjamin Sisko, Kathryn Janeway), a series-pivotal character (Spock, Michael Burnham), and all the others are the British actors who appeared in any version, television or movie, of Star Trek.

His films have grossed over $9.8 billion worldwide, including $3.6 billion in North America. (mayo de 2019)

Was on the Time 100, a list of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. (2016)

In September 2018, he was one of 50 people chosen for "making London awesome" and for helping to shape London's cultural landscape to commemorate Time Out magazine's 50th anniversary.

Chosen by People magazine as one of the 100 Most Beautiful People in the World. (mayo de 2007)

Chosen by People magazine as the Sexiest Man Alive on November 5, 2018.

He's the only male that has ever appeared on the cover of Maxim magazine. (2015)

Admires Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep.

Friends with Jamie Foxx and Chiwetel Ejiofor.