Idris Elba Walks Into An Abu Dhabi Hotel Room! - What Now? with Trevor Noah Podcast

1. 0:00 – 1:23

   Intro

   1. IEIdris Elba0:00

      Wow. We're really talking?

   2. TNTrevor Noah0:02

      We're doing this, man.

   3. IEIdris Elba0:03

      Man.

   4. TNTrevor Noah0:03

      We're doing this.

   5. IEIdris Elba0:05

      [sighs]

   6. TNTrevor Noah0:06

      You happy? Sound happy. Yes? Picture happy. Everybody's happy. Yeah, bro. All right. Then the most important question is, is Idris happy? How you feeling?

   7. IEIdris Elba0:13

      I'm feeling good.

   8. TNTrevor Noah0:14

      Yeah, I mean, I'm, I'm shocked that you're, you're awake.

   9. IEIdris Elba0:17

      [laughs] So-

   10. TNTrevor Noah0:18

       You were in, you were in LA a few days ago.

   11. IEIdris Elba0:19

       I wa- I was in LA, yeah, less than 48 hours ago.

   12. TNTrevor Noah0:23

       Okay.

   13. IEIdris Elba0:24

       I went, I went, I passed through London to come to Abu Dhabi.

   14. TNTrevor Noah0:27

       Right.

   15. IEIdris Elba0:27

       I've been doing some miles, bro.

   16. TNTrevor Noah0:29

       You really have.

   17. IEIdris Elba0:29

       Doing some miles. Yeah.

   18. TNTrevor Noah0:30

       Do you, do you get, do you get to go to the lounge now?

   19. IEIdris Elba0:34

       [laughs]

   20. TNTrevor Noah0:36

       [laughs]

   21. IEIdris Elba0:36

       Yes. I mean, but no, the, I, you know, honestly, um, airports can be daunting. I, I get... I'm not a anxious flyer, but the airports are anx- make me anxious.

   22. TNTrevor Noah0:48

       Wait, what? I don't... Are you being serious right now?

   23. IEIdris Elba0:50

       Yeah. No, seriously. A- airports, just, just too much going on. It feels so fragile. It's weird.

   24. TNTrevor Noah0:56

       You know, I would feel the calmest if I saw Idris Elba in an airport.

   25. IEIdris Elba1:00

       [laughs]

   26. TNTrevor Noah1:01

       I'm not even joking, 'cause you carry yourself in a way where I'd be like, "Man, everything's going bad." And I'll look and be like, "Is that Idris Elba? Everything's gonna be okay, yo. Everything's gonna be okay." [upbeat music] This is What Now? with Trevor Noah. [upbeat music]

2. 1:23 – 3:07

   Idris Elba in Abu Dhabi

   1. TNTrevor Noah1:27

      You know, if you told me I would be in Abu Dhabi, right, just an hour away from Dubai, in a hotel room overlooking what seems like a beautiful bay, also combined with, like, I don't know, an office block, speaking to Idris Elba, I would've said to you, "This is probably a psychedelic dream that you're having." But that's exactly where I am, chatting to Idris Elba in Abu Dhabi. And oh, yeah, be- before we jump into everything, man, congratulations on the, on the SAG Awards. That was beautiful.

   2. IEIdris Elba2:03

      Oh. It-

   3. TNTrevor Noah2:04

      That was really beautiful

   4. IEIdris Elba2:05

      ... coming from you.

   5. TNTrevor Noah2:06

      No, man, for real.

   6. IEIdris Elba2:06

      Really now?

   7. TNTrevor Noah2:06

      That was really, really beaut- it was funny, it was heartfelt, it was like a vibe. It was-

   8. IEIdris Elba2:11

      Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up, hold up, hold up, hold up. You just tell me I was funny?

   9. TNTrevor Noah2:15

      My... You know that you're funny, though.

   10. IEIdris Elba2:17

       No, bro. I mean-

   11. TNTrevor Noah2:17

       You know that you're funny.

   12. IEIdris Elba2:18

       Okay, so me and you having a laugh about fufu or African stuff, you know we laugh.

   13. TNTrevor Noah2:23

       Yeah, yeah.

   14. IEIdris Elba2:24

       But to stand up in front of the world like that and do what you do, I thought about you a lot actually, 'cause you have a very good way of commanding a room. Your comic timing is hilarious. You go off the cuff and come back onto-

   15. TNTrevor Noah2:36

       Yeah, yeah, yeah

   16. IEIdris Elba2:37

       ... onto script. I was thinking about Trevor. I was trying to channel it.

   17. TNTrevor Noah2:40

       No, man, you, you killed it.

   18. IEIdris Elba2:41

       [laughs]

   19. TNTrevor Noah2:41

       If, if you were channeling me, I now see me differently. I actually wanna see my whole life channeled through Idris Elba now.

   20. IEIdris Elba2:48

       [laughs]

   21. TNTrevor Noah2:48

       If you're saying you were doing Trevor Noah, I'm like, "Damn."

   22. IEIdris Elba2:50

       I was.

   23. TNTrevor Noah2:51

       No, man, for real. It was, uh... What was it like? I haven't seen you host before, by the way.

   24. IEIdris Elba2:54

       Yeah, I don't... A- actually, I wasn't meant to be hosting. They just gave me more segments than anyone [laughs] else because I had won two awards one time. They duped me. They said, "No, no, no, it's just a couple more links." I'm hosting.

3. 3:07 – 4:54

   The fragility of the industry

   1. TNTrevor Noah3:07

      Yeah, you were hosting. It was, it was a beautiful moment for me, man. I think, one, it was cool to see something different.

   2. IEIdris Elba3:13

      Mm.

   3. TNTrevor Noah3:13

      Uh, two, I loved the vibe in the room. Like, you know, acting, acting is such a weird profession in that from the outside, acting seems impervious to anything.

   4. IEIdris Elba3:29

      [laughs] Right.

   5. TNTrevor Noah3:29

      You know what I mean?

   6. IEIdris Elba3:29

      Yeah.

   7. TNTrevor Noah3:30

      I'm sure you know what, what I, what I mean by this.

   8. IEIdris Elba3:32

      Yeah.

   9. TNTrevor Noah3:32

      You know, like, a lot of people out there will see you as an actor. They see anybody as an actor, and they go, "Oh, what a great job. What a great life."

   10. IEIdris Elba3:38

       Yeah.

   11. TNTrevor Noah3:38

       "It's perfect. Nothing affects you. You don't have the stress that a normal person has."

   12. IEIdris Elba3:42

       Yeah.

   13. TNTrevor Noah3:42

       And I noticed in the awards, you and other actors spent a lot of time talking about what it was like going through the strikes in Hollywood.

   14. IEIdris Elba3:50

       Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

   15. TNTrevor Noah3:50

       What it was like having the industry shut down.

   16. IEIdris Elba3:52

       Mm.

   17. TNTrevor Noah3:53

       And I wondered, like, do those moments make you re- realize the fragility of the, of the industry you're in?

   18. IEIdris Elba4:02

       Mm. 100%.

   19. TNTrevor Noah4:03

       Yeah?

   20. IEIdris Elba4:04

       I mean, in terms of strikes, you know, uh, in terms of workers' rights, 'cause that's what it's all about, right?

   21. TNTrevor Noah4:12

       Yeah.

   22. IEIdris Elba4:12

       It's like we're workers one way or another of an industry. We're called actors, called superstars, called Holli-, but we're workers.

   23. TNTrevor Noah4:18

       Right.

   24. IEIdris Elba4:18

       And the, and, and the rights of those workers are fragile, especially in a, an industry that, you know, is dominated by a few. And what was interesting about that room is that, I mean, there was the biggest names in the film industry who all went through the same thing, you know, and it was a strike, and it was crippling. I think for all of us, you know, we all, all the actors in that room just realized that, you know, we're f- lucky to be working.

   25. TNTrevor Noah4:46

       Mm-hmm.

   26. IEIdris Elba4:47

       Lucky to have the industry that we have, and we have a union that actually really fought for some really important, um, issues.

4. 4:54 – 6:34

   When Idris Elba stopped acting

   1. TNTrevor Noah4:54

      Was there, was there ever a moment in your life when you stopped... I mean, fear is the wrong word, but it's like, uh, so maybe I'll, I'll, I'll try and explain this for people who aren't aware. A lot of people know that in acting there's auditioning. A lot of people know that in acting you don't know when you may get your next role, et cetera. But I think few people truly appreciate how unpredictable it is. You know, I, I wonder, w- has there ever been a moment in your career when you felt secure as Idris where you were like, "All right. No, I'm, I'm, I'm good now"? Or is there always that thing, that shadow behind you going like, "You never know, Idris. You never know"?

   2. IEIdris Elba5:33

      Y- you know, it's interesting 'cause when, uh, when I did The Wire, okay, The Wire was a four-year explosion of my life.

   3. TNTrevor Noah5:41

      Yeah.

   4. IEIdris Elba5:41

      Before The Wire, I was literally penniless in, in New York City, and after The Wire, I was arguably one of the most famous Black actors, at least in, in America.

   5. TNTrevor Noah5:52

      Right.

   6. IEIdris Elba5:52

      Right? 'Cause of my character Stringer Bell.

   7. TNTrevor Noah5:54

      Mm-hmm.

   8. IEIdris Elba5:55

      Was so celebrated. And at that time, leaving The Wire, because I didn't know I was gonna die in that. I didn't know my character was gonna die. So when they-

   9. TNTrevor Noah6:03

      Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean you didn't know he was gonna die?

   10. IEIdris Elba6:05

       I didn't know my character was gonna die- Uh, until we got the episode.

   11. TNTrevor Noah6:10

       Wait, for real?

   12. IEIdris Elba6:11

       Yeah, yeah, 100. That's another story altogether, but-

   13. TNTrevor Noah6:14

       Damn

   14. IEIdris Elba6:14

       ... it was tough love. But at that time I was flying high. I mean, I could go anywhere. Like, people were comparing me to Denz, you know? [laughs]

   15. TNTrevor Noah6:23

       Yeah, yeah, yeah.

   16. IEIdris Elba6:24

       You know, I was only third season in. Anywa- when it, when it fell off very quickly, very suddenly, I remember thinking, "Oh, I'm good.

5. 6:34 – 7:45

   When Idris Elba found out he was no longer the host

   1. IEIdris Elba6:34

      I'm, I'm Stringer Bell."

   2. TNTrevor Noah6:35

      Yeah.

   3. IEIdris Elba6:36

      And that was a tough s- pill to swallow, although I did work, but it was not the same.

   4. TNTrevor Noah6:43

      You see, that's, that's something I don't even think about.

   5. IEIdris Elba6:47

      Mm.

   6. TNTrevor Noah6:47

      Just my character dying.

   7. IEIdris Elba6:50

      [laughs]

   8. TNTrevor Noah6:51

      Like, when I'm, when I'm doing, when I'm doing a hosting gig-

   9. IEIdris Elba6:53

      Yeah

   10. TNTrevor Noah6:53

       ... when I'm doing comedy, there's not even a moment where I think to myself-

   11. IEIdris Elba6:56

       [laughs]

   12. TNTrevor Noah6:56

       ... "Yep, someone might surprise me and tell me, 'Hey, Trevor, after the next ad break-

   13. IEIdris Elba7:00

       [laughs]

   14. TNTrevor Noah7:00

       ... you are no longer the host. There's a whole, there's a, there's a piano that's gonna drop on your head, and, uh, you're gone.'"

   15. IEIdris Elba7:05

       Yeah.

   16. TNTrevor Noah7:06

       That's-

   17. IEIdris Elba7:07

       That, that was... It was a bit like this, you know. Um, you usually get your scripts, you know, like two, three f- in a, in a row, they write them.

   18. TNTrevor Noah7:15

       Right.

   19. IEIdris Elba7:15

       And I think the way I got it, I got, I got episode seven. I was like, "Oh, um, episode se- I got episode seven. Where's eight? Can I get eight?" "What's wrong?" "Uh, you're, you're not, not, you're not in eight." "What, what do you mean I'm not in eight?" "You should read, you should read it." [laughs] And that's how I kind of found out. I was like, "Wait. Whoo. Stringer, Stringer, Stringer, Stringer. What?"

6. 7:45 – 10:11

   Idris Elba playing everything

   1. IEIdris Elba7:45

      And it was crazy. It was like that. That's how I found out. And to your point, you know, it was, it was scary. Yeah.

   2. TNTrevor Noah7:52

      You have, I, I, I will say, from the outside at least, one of the most amazing careers in that you, you've played everything, you play everyone, you exist everywhere doing everything. Some people want you to be Idris Elba the action star.

   3. IEIdris Elba8:11

      Mm-hmm.

   4. TNTrevor Noah8:12

      You know what I mean?

   5. IEIdris Elba8:12

      Mm-hmm.

   6. TNTrevor Noah8:13

      But then some people go, "Man, Idris Elba can also be the, the vulnerable love interest."

   7. IEIdris Elba8:19

      Mm, mm, mm.

   8. TNTrevor Noah8:20

      And then obviously, you know, you're in Avengers. You, you know, you, you're-

   9. IEIdris Elba8:23

      Mm

   10. TNTrevor Noah8:23

       ... out there conquering, Fast and the Furious, et cetera.

   11. IEIdris Elba8:25

       Mm.

   12. TNTrevor Noah8:27

       I know that it wasn't easy, but I wanna know how and why you thought you could play something more than the industry wanted you to play, because if you're successful as a gangster, Hollywood goes, "You're a gangster."

   13. IEIdris Elba8:41

       Mm.

   14. TNTrevor Noah8:41

       And it's not even, like, a negative thing. Hollywood just goes, "We know that you can do this-

   15. IEIdris Elba8:44

       Mm-hmm

   16. TNTrevor Noah8:45

       ... so you can do this."

   17. IEIdris Elba8:46

       You do this. Mm, mm.

   18. TNTrevor Noah8:48

       You chose not to do that.

   19. IEIdris Elba8:49

       Mm.

   20. TNTrevor Noah8:50

       Why?

   21. IEIdris Elba8:52

       I think I learned early on the power of no. Like, I, when I, when I moved to America to, to become an actor there, my career in England wasn't bad. It was good, you know. I was-

   22. TNTrevor Noah9:05

       How old were you when you moved?

   23. IEIdris Elba9:05

       I was probably about 25, 26 years old.

   24. TNTrevor Noah9:08

       Oh, damn.

   25. IEIdris Elba9:09

       Mm-hmm.

   26. TNTrevor Noah9:09

       Okay.

   27. IEIdris Elba9:10

       And there was this junction where I said, "I'm not gonna do what you want me to do in England. I'm gonna say no, and I'm gonna jump ship and go to America." And the power of no was my liberator, 'cause in England there was this definite glass ceiling. You could see it coming, you know. It was like, you're gonna play one kind of role, and in England, it's a smaller market.

   28. TNTrevor Noah9:33

       Yeah.

   29. IEIdris Elba9:33

       Back then, going to America was like a, "What? You're going where?"

   30. TNTrevor Noah9:37

       [laughs]
7. 10:11 – 11:54

   How Idris Elba came to the US

   1. TNTrevor Noah10:11

      Yeah, but talk me through some of the doubts. You come from the UK.

   2. IEIdris Elba10:16

      Mm.

   3. TNTrevor Noah10:18

      You're doing, you're doing decently there.

   4. IEIdris Elba10:19

      Mm.

   5. TNTrevor Noah10:20

      Right? It's, it's a small market, but it's a robust market.

   6. IEIdris Elba10:22

      Mm.

   7. TNTrevor Noah10:22

      You know, once you're in, you're working-

   8. IEIdris Elba10:24

      Mm

   9. TNTrevor Noah10:24

      ... you're doing things, BBC-

   10. IEIdris Elba10:25

       Yeah

   11. TNTrevor Noah10:25

       ... you know, Channel 4, whatever. You come to the US. It wasn't an overnight thing for you, though, in the US, was it?

   12. IEIdris Elba10:32

       No, no. I mean, the f- the first two or three years was just flatline.

   13. TNTrevor Noah10:38

       'Cause I've, I've heard rumors of you working at, like, a comedy club. I remember someone saying this once.

   14. IEIdris Elba10:42

       Yeah.

   15. TNTrevor Noah10:43

       They were like, "I met Idris at a comedy club." And I was like, "What do you mean you met Idris, like, doing stand-up?" They're like, "No, no, he was working the door."

   16. IEIdris Elba10:50

       I wasn't doing stand-up. I was standing up at the door-

   17. TNTrevor Noah10:53

       [laughs]

   18. IEIdris Elba10:53

       ... is what I was doing. Um-

   19. TNTrevor Noah10:54

       The original stand-up

   20. IEIdris Elba10:55

       The original stand-up. [laughs] Um-

   21. TNTrevor Noah10:57

       No, but okay, so talk, talk me through. So what part of the career is this happening in? So you've come to the US.

   22. IEIdris Elba11:01

       Yeah, I've come.

   23. TNTrevor Noah11:03

       Yeah.

   24. IEIdris Elba11:04

       I, I had some savings.

   25. TNTrevor Noah11:05

       Yeah.

   26. IEIdris Elba11:06

       Um, my wife at the time, I was married. You know, we were young. We were like, "Let's go to America." Had savings. I was like, "Power of no. This is great. We're out here." I didn't work for t- two years.

   27. TNTrevor Noah11:19

       Damn.

   28. IEIdris Elba11:19

       Straight. Straight 24 months, no money, and my savings ran out in the first six months, and it was a struggs. So, you know, that's where I started to DJ in New York. I brought my records over. Literally, I shipped over six crates of records.

   29. TNTrevor Noah11:38

       This is wild.

   30. IEIdris Elba11:40

       And I moved from New York, 'cause I couldn't afford New York. I ended up in Jersey City, where the rent much, much cheaper.
8. 11:54 – 13:58

   Idris Elbas motivation

   1. IEIdris Elba11:54

      home.

   2. TNTrevor Noah11:54

      Yeah, but you, you didn't think of going home 6 months in, 8 months in, 12 months in, 16 months in?

   3. IEIdris Elba11:59

      No.

   4. TNTrevor Noah11:59

      What, what's, what is keeping you from going home during that mo- Like, what is, what is the motivating force in your life that- ... didn't allow you to give up. I'm trying to understand that.

   5. IEIdris Elba12:11

      I think it was, you know, I, I jumped the ship, man. Like, I had done something no English, no Black actor, no young man had done f- that I knew.

   6. TNTrevor Noah12:23

      Oh, yeah.

   7. IEIdris Elba12:23

      Which is, I'm gonna go to America, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna be an actor over here, and I couldn't take the idea of letting that fail. I just couldn't.

   8. TNTrevor Noah12:32

      Oh.

   9. IEIdris Elba12:32

      I did not want that to fail, and I was auditioning for a lot of them, but my accent wasn't very good. Uh, I couldn't really, you know, pull it off. Um-

   10. TNTrevor Noah12:41

       How did you get the accent good?

   11. IEIdris Elba12:42

       Well, I was- [laughs]

   12. TNTrevor Noah12:42

       'Cause you, you have one of the best accents. Your accent is so good.

   13. IEIdris Elba12:46

       Oh.

   14. TNTrevor Noah12:47

       I've seen people get angry-

   15. IEIdris Elba12:48

       [laughs]

   16. TNTrevor Noah12:49

       ... when they discover that you're not American.

   17. IEIdris Elba12:51

       Oh.

   18. TNTrevor Noah12:51

       I've seen people get really, like, not even angry, like, they angry that you could fool them to that level.

   19. IEIdris Elba12:57

       Yeah. [laughs] No, I've, I've been in those conversations. Like, the, I think the way I got... 'Cause I was a, I was unemployed, bro, and I was living in J- New Jersey. I m- lived in Brooklyn for a little bit. Um, I was living life, you know? I was working the door, I was bartending, I was, uh, door, uh, DJing, and before you know it, you just start speaking like an American because you'd end up saying-

   20. TNTrevor Noah13:18

       [laughs]

   21. IEIdris Elba13:18

       ... you're in the ting. You're in the ting, and then, you know, third year in, though, it started to get really struggled 'cause my wife and I were going through some stuff. She was pregnant, and, uh, there's one casting director, I talk about her all the time, Alexa Fogel. She would put me up for stuff, and she said, "Hey, listen. Uh, this Wire thing's come up. It's called The Wire. It's a pilot. They're gonna shoot it in January, but if you go in, you cannot let them know you aren't American, 'cause they will not... I mean, this is about Baltimore. It's very specific. They don't want any strangers. I mean, please." So I was auditioning for this thing, and I auditioned for four weeks straight in an American accent, and on

9. 13:58 – 15:42

   Idris Elbas American accent

   1. IEIdris Elba13:58

      the fourth audition, you know, and, um, the producer, David Simon, and another producer who's, who's passed now, great guy, they were in the room just like this, and they said to me, um, "Idris, where are you from?"

   2. TNTrevor Noah14:12

      [laughs] That is the phrase every immigrant is terrified of hearing-

   3. IEIdris Elba14:18

      [laughs]

   4. TNTrevor Noah14:18

      ... no matter where they are in the world.

   5. IEIdris Elba14:19

      [laughs]

   6. TNTrevor Noah14:20

      Excuse me, where are you from?

   7. IEIdris Elba14:24

      [laughs]

   8. TNTrevor Noah14:24

      [laughs]

   9. IEIdris Elba14:24

      You know when your palm- palms start sweating?

   10. TNTrevor Noah14:27

       [laughs]

   11. IEIdris Elba14:28

       You get little sweat perforations in your forehead, and you're like, "Oh, man." And I'm thinking to myself, "They told you don't say nothing."

   12. TNTrevor Noah14:36

       Yeah.

   13. IEIdris Elba14:37

       And I'm thinking, "Oh, your accent is shit. Oh, he sussed you." And I was like, I'm looking at him, and by, by this time, I've known him, this fourth audition.

   14. TNTrevor Noah14:44

       Yeah.

   15. IEIdris Elba14:45

       "Hey, Idris, come on. Sit down. Why don't you do the scene again?" You know, that kind of thing. I look at him and I said, um, "I'm from East London." The room just exploded. "Oh, my God. I told you. No, you didn't know? You didn't know?" They ex- And I'm sitting there, "Whoa. What, what is going on?" They was like, "Yo, we had a bet. I t- I said that he's not from Baltimore. He's not from Brooklyn. He's from somewhere else. Well, I thought maybe Jamaican, maybe Haitian. You're from England?" And this is the conversation. I'm sitting there. And they were like, "Okay, you got the job. You got the job. We, we, we don't want you to play Avon, though. We want you to play Stringer Bell." And I, and I was in the room, and I was-

   16. TNTrevor Noah15:27

       Oh, man, so you went for Avon.

   17. IEIdris Elba15:28

       Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, "You got the job. Uh, I'll tell Alexa welcome, thank you, but wow, you owe me money." I'm walking out the room like, "Did my life just change? I don't know what's going on." And that was it. That was [laughs] that's the way I got that

10. 15:42 – 17:13

    Where are you from

    1. IEIdris Elba15:42

       film.

    2. TNTrevor Noah15:42

       You see, that's, that's what I mean about serendipity. It's like I love moments like that where now I'm trying to picture the show with you as Avon. It doesn't work in my head.

    3. IEIdris Elba15:50

       [laughs] No, it's different.

    4. TNTrevor Noah15:50

       It might have worked. It might not. You, you, you, d- but do you know what I mean?

    5. IEIdris Elba15:53

       Yeah, 100%.

    6. TNTrevor Noah15:53

       It's just like these, these stories. I love that phrase, though, like, "Where are you from?"

    7. IEIdris Elba15:57

       Yeah.

    8. TNTrevor Noah15:58

       Because in a way, what you said is, is, is so much deeper than, than just you putting on an accent.

    9. IEIdris Elba16:09

       Mm.

    10. TNTrevor Noah16:10

        You lived as an American, do you know what I'm saying?

    11. IEIdris Elba16:13

        Mm-hmm.

    12. TNTrevor Noah16:14

        I, I, I don't think that's any coincidence. I, the fact that you were grinding, the fact that you were working multiple jobs, the fact that you didn't know what was gonna happen-

    13. IEIdris Elba16:23

        Mm

    14. TNTrevor Noah16:23

        ... from one paycheck to the next, the fact that you were, you know, in barbershops and in comedy clubs and working the bar and DJing. In, in a, in a really strange way, it's both sad and beautiful at the same time.

    15. IEIdris Elba16:36

        The fact-

    16. TNTrevor Noah16:36

        You were living as an American.

    17. IEIdris Elba16:37

        Oh, yeah. Uh, uh, the, the, the time that I knew I was American is when I had to go to the DMV to get my license.

    18. TNTrevor Noah16:43

        [laughs]

    19. IEIdris Elba16:44

        Okay, bro? Like, if anyone knows what that is, that is like, oh, my days. That was one of the most, uh... Soon as I had my license, I was like, "Yes."

    20. TNTrevor Noah16:53

        [laughs]

    21. IEIdris Elba16:55

        "You can't tell me nothing," because the process.

    22. TNTrevor Noah16:58

        Yeah, it's wild.

    23. IEIdris Elba16:58

        The process was crazy. Anyway.

    24. TNTrevor Noah17:00

        Oh, no. No, it's, that's, that's a, that's a rite of passage, I feel like.

    25. IEIdris Elba17:03

        It is.

    26. TNTrevor Noah17:03

        You have not lived in America until you've gone to the DMV in America. We're gonna continue this conversation right after this short break.

11. 17:13 – 20:14

    Moving to America

    1. TNTrevor Noah17:18

       But, but, like, but let's talk a little bit about that, like, where are you from, you know? There's a, there's a special connection I always feel with people who have moved from one place-

    2. IEIdris Elba17:30

       Mm-hmm

    3. TNTrevor Noah17:30

       ... especially the place they were born and lived, to another place to try and do something that requires them to ingratiate themselves to the people of that place.

    4. IEIdris Elba17:38

       Mm. Mm.

    5. TNTrevor Noah17:38

       You know, I, I obviously started my career in South Africa. South Africa's very similar to the UK in that we have a small industry, but it works.

    6. IEIdris Elba17:47

       Mm-hmm.

    7. TNTrevor Noah17:47

       It's robust, you know?

    8. IEIdris Elba17:49

       Mm-hmm.

    9. TNTrevor Noah17:49

       And you do the little that you can, and you, you do it in the world that they allow you to do it in. Going to America was ridiculous.

    10. IEIdris Elba17:55

        Mm.

    11. TNTrevor Noah17:56

        In my world, people literally were like, "What are you doing? Why, like, why? Why America?"

    12. IEIdris Elba18:01

        Mm.

    13. TNTrevor Noah18:01

        You know? And-

    14. IEIdris Elba18:04

        And what would you say?

    15. TNTrevor Noah18:05

        About America?

    16. IEIdris Elba18:06

        Well, about-

    17. TNTrevor Noah18:06

        Well, but yeah, but you see, my thing was I was never going for America. I dunno if you can relate to this, but- When I, when I look at anything that I'm doing, I try to do it to the best of my ability and almost to the end of what it is supposed to be.

    18. IEIdris Elba18:25

        Right.

    19. TNTrevor Noah18:25

        So if I'm doing comedy, I do my best. I toured everywhere in South Africa. I started touring in Southern Africa, so I was in Namibia, I was in, uh, Zambia, I was in Botswana. I was doing my comedy everywhere. The natural extension of that comedy is going to America.

    20. IEIdris Elba18:42

        Mm.

    21. TNTrevor Noah18:43

        Right? Because if you want to be one of the best comedians in the world, you cannot do it without performing at the top stages-

    22. IEIdris Elba18:50

        At that level

    23. TNTrevor Noah18:50

        ... at the top levels.

    24. IEIdris Elba18:50

        Yeah.

    25. TNTrevor Noah18:51

        I was already performing in the UK. You know, I was doing shows in everywhere from London to Brighton, Newcastle, Liverpool-

    26. IEIdris Elba18:57

        [laughs]

    27. TNTrevor Noah18:57

        You name it.

    28. IEIdris Elba18:58

        The circuit. [laughs]

    29. TNTrevor Noah18:59

        [laughs] Yeah, I've been, I've been there, you know? Oh, you're not, you're not bad, are you, mate?

    30. IEIdris Elba19:02

        [laughs]
12. 20:14 – 22:56

    Accent Crisis

    1. TNTrevor Noah20:14

       who are you.

    2. IEIdris Elba20:14

       Yeah. And you are someone else when... I wouldn't say you're someone else, right, because you always take your roots with you. If you're rooted, if you're a-

    3. TNTrevor Noah20:21

       Yeah, yeah

    4. IEIdris Elba20:21

       ... rooted person-

    5. TNTrevor Noah20:22

       Yeah, yeah

    6. IEIdris Elba20:22

       ... you take that with you, right? But a- adaptation-

    7. TNTrevor Noah20:25

       Definitely

    8. IEIdris Elba20:26

       ... you know?

    9. TNTrevor Noah20:27

       Yeah.

    10. IEIdris Elba20:27

        And I, and I think that it's not for everyone. You know, like-

    11. TNTrevor Noah20:29

        Yeah, there's new parts of you, definitely.

    12. IEIdris Elba20:30

        100%.

    13. TNTrevor Noah20:31

        You know?

    14. IEIdris Elba20:31

        You know, it's kinda like... I had what I call an accent crisis. I had a crisis of accent, 'cause when I came out of The Wire and, you know, if I was going to a party or whatever, I was doing an interview or something and I talked the way I talk, they'd be like, "Yo, why you talking like that, man?"

    15. TNTrevor Noah20:47

        [laughs]

    16. IEIdris Elba20:48

        No, for real, though. What, what you doing a part? What are you doing, man? What, eh? And y- you're like f-

    17. TNTrevor Noah20:55

        You try to figure out if you want friction, right?

    18. IEIdris Elba20:57

        That's how I talk. No, seriously.

    19. TNTrevor Noah20:58

        Yeah.

    20. IEIdris Elba20:58

        They would almost feel like, "Yo, you, you, you, you got me, man." Like-

    21. TNTrevor Noah21:03

        Yeah

    22. IEIdris Elba21:04

        ... "You're Stringer Bell. You come from this."

    23. TNTrevor Noah21:06

        Yeah.

    24. IEIdris Elba21:06

        And because of The Wire especially was not a satire, these were based on a real culture, a real epidemic, if you like, of-

    25. TNTrevor Noah21:15

        Mm-hmm

    26. IEIdris Elba21:15

        ... American underbelly. They took to my characters to the point where I had to hold myself, Idris, a certain way in definitely amongst the African American community.

    27. TNTrevor Noah21:28

        Right.

    28. IEIdris Elba21:29

        I had to hold myself with the, the sort of respect almost they had for Stringer Bell-

    29. TNTrevor Noah21:35

        Yeah

    30. IEIdris Elba21:35

        ... which was a man trying to do good.
13. 22:56 – 34:39

    Urban Rooms

    1. IEIdris Elba22:56

       you know-

    2. TNTrevor Noah22:56

       It's funny

    3. IEIdris Elba22:57

       ... culturally.

    4. TNTrevor Noah22:57

       I remember when I first started doing stand-up comedy in the US. The, you, you understand this. In America, they would have what they call the urban rooms-

    5. IEIdris Elba23:07

       Mm-hmm

    6. TNTrevor Noah23:08

       ... and then rooms. Right? What that means is these are rooms where Black people watch Black comedy, and then the rest of the rooms are just, I guess, regular comedy. I always found that weird, 'cause I've, I come f- from a country that's predominantly Black.

    7. IEIdris Elba23:22

       Mm-hmm.

    8. TNTrevor Noah23:22

       And we never looked at it like that. So anyway, they go, um, you know, people would be like, "Oh, you gotta go perform in urban rooms. Go and do some urban rooms." And so I get to these urban rooms and, you know, it's Black comedians, Black audiences, and I would get on stage, and in South Africa, number one, Africa, you greet.

    9. IEIdris Elba23:38

       [laughs]

    10. TNTrevor Noah23:38

        So I'd walk out. I greet the audience, "Good evening, everybody." You know, and that audience would stare at me.

    11. IEIdris Elba23:44

        [laughs]

    12. TNTrevor Noah23:45

        And I remember after one of the shows, one of my favorite people in the world, his name is, his name's, uh, Chris Spencer, comedian, really like a, like a, like a mentor to me in the game.

    13. IEIdris Elba23:54

        Uh-huh.

    14. TNTrevor Noah23:54

        He came to me after one of the shows, and he's like, he's like, "Hey, man." He's like, "Did you steal something?" And I said, "What do you mean?" He's like, he's like, "Man, you walk on stage like you stole something." He's like, "Man, you gotta get on there and you gotta own that stage, baby. Man, you walking on there like, like you ain't supposed to be there. You start making the audience doubt themselves, man. They be looking at you like you supposed to be there?" You don't feel like you're supposed to be there. He's like, "Man, you gotta get up there." And I was like, "Well, that's not how we do." He's like, "Well, that's how we do it, baby."

    15. IEIdris Elba24:19

        [laughs]

    16. TNTrevor Noah24:20

        He's like, "You gotta understand." He's like, "Half-

    17. IEIdris Elba24:21

        So true

    18. TNTrevor Noah24:21

        ... he's like, "Half those people in the audience, they funnier than you. They know they're funnier than you-

    19. IEIdris Elba24:24

        [laughs]

    20. TNTrevor Noah24:24

        ... so you better show them why you up there. You better show them why you up there."

    21. IEIdris Elba24:28

        [laughs]

    22. TNTrevor Noah24:28

        And he like, it was a beautiful way, you know, when you connect those things.

    23. IEIdris Elba24:31

        Yeah.

    24. TNTrevor Noah24:31

        You, you know, you, you find-

    25. IEIdris Elba24:32

        That's funny

    26. TNTrevor Noah24:33

        ... I, I'd love to know, like, you know, in that, w- what is it that's inspired you to connect all of these parts of yourself? Because you, you, you're not just Idris Elba the movie star in Hollywood. I've always loved how you have bigged up the UK at every opportunity that you've been given.

    27. IEIdris Elba24:50

        Mm.

    28. TNTrevor Noah24:50

        You've also bigged up African Americans at every opportunity you've been given.

    29. IEIdris Elba24:53

        Mm. Mm. Mm.

    30. TNTrevor Noah24:53

        You've, you've, you've adopted these communities, and one that always touches me, obviously, is Africa.
14. 34:39 – 36:36

    Mandela vs Obama

    1. TNTrevor Noah34:39

       It's not the exact same

    2. IEIdris Elba34:40

       ... not the same thing, but, 'cause-

    3. TNTrevor Noah34:41

       Well, Nel- I find, I, I never lose my Nelson Mandela. I always, um, I just, I li- like, there'll be days where I just do it for no reason. I'm, I'm being serious. I'll literally just l- like, be walking around in my room-

    4. IEIdris Elba34:54

       Just there

    5. TNTrevor Noah34:54

       ... and I'll just be like, "Never forget those people." It's just like it's in the... I actually use-

    6. IEIdris Elba35:00

       [laughs]

    7. TNTrevor Noah35:00

       I use my Nelson Mandela to get to my Barack Obama.

    8. IEIdris Elba35:03

       Okay.

    9. TNTrevor Noah35:04

       Because I find they have the same... Uh, my conspiracy theory is that Mandela taught Obama how to do it-

    10. IEIdris Elba35:09

        [laughs]

    11. TNTrevor Noah35:10

        ... [laughs] because they got the same-

    12. IEIdris Elba35:11

        The cadence

    13. TNTrevor Noah35:11

        ... yeah, because they got the same thing, 'cause, like, you know, because Mandela has the, "I believe all South Africans all must fight for this country." He's g- got that thing, right?

    14. IEIdris Elba35:19

        Mm-hmm.

    15. TNTrevor Noah35:20

        And then Barack, if you take, it's a natural, it's the natural progression of that, right?

    16. IEIdris Elba35:23

        Mm-hmm.

    17. TNTrevor Noah35:24

        "I believe we can come together, and, uh, as Americans, uh, we gotta try to, uh..." You know, you, it's a stronger, uh, voice. It has a lot of... But when, whenever I lose it, I have to go back to Mandela, 'cause it's the same-

    18. IEIdris Elba35:36

        Mandela

    19. TNTrevor Noah35:36

        ... you know what I mean?

    20. IEIdris Elba35:37

        Right, right, right. [laughs]

    21. TNTrevor Noah35:37

        Uh, as Americans, as Americans, we gotta find, uh, our way to believe in ourselves. It's the same-

    22. IEIdris Elba35:44

        [laughs]

    23. TNTrevor Noah35:45

        ... it's like it's in there.

    24. IEIdris Elba35:45

        I'm fighting every impulse to challenge you to a Barack and a, and a Mandela right now.

    25. TNTrevor Noah35:50

        Why don't we do it?

    26. IEIdris Elba35:51

        No, because-

    27. TNTrevor Noah35:52

        Because why? What's gonna happen?

    28. IEIdris Elba35:53

        Because you're just gonna murder me in your-

    29. TNTrevor Noah35:54

        I don't believe that that's true

    30. IEIdris Elba35:55

        ... in your accent.
15. 36:36 – 38:57

    Discovering the parts of himself

    1. TNTrevor Noah36:36

       It's, it's funny you say the thing about, like, knowing yourself and the pieces of yourself. I, I, I, I wonder if that's what's made you such an amazing actor, is that, like, you have been forced in life to discover the parts of yourself as a real character that makes you who you are.

    2. IEIdris Elba36:56

       Yeah.

    3. TNTrevor Noah36:57

       Do you know what I mean?

    4. IEIdris Elba36:57

       Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

    5. TNTrevor Noah36:58

       And I feel like all great actors will tell you that they have to know all the parts that make the character who they are.

    6. IEIdris Elba37:03

       Mm. Mm.

    7. TNTrevor Noah37:03

       What would you say you've brought from your life into acting, and what would you say that acting has brought into your life the other way around?

    8. IEIdris Elba37:11

       Mm. I, I would say that, um, in the, the maturity of any actor, unless, unless you're a child actor and you win at your first audition and you're a star-

    9. TNTrevor Noah37:25

       Yeah

    10. IEIdris Elba37:25

        ... but the maturity of an actor is a patient game, you know. You kiss a lot of frogs, a lot of auditions-

    11. TNTrevor Noah37:33

        Hmm

    12. IEIdris Elba37:33

        ... a lot of nos before you get that yes, okay? A lot of rejection.

    13. TNTrevor Noah37:39

        Hmm.

    14. IEIdris Elba37:39

        But I've had some really challenging moments in my life, and I definitely know as an actor where you have to have thick skin. You have to go through some stuff that actually is, um, traumatizing for you, right?

    15. TNTrevor Noah37:54

        Mm-hmm.

    16. IEIdris Elba37:55

        Y- you know, when you play a role like Luther, for example, he sees a lot of murder, destruction-

    17. TNTrevor Noah37:59

        Yeah

    18. IEIdris Elba37:59

        ... okay, blahdy blah. I go and I play that role, and I play it to all of my ability, but my body doesn't actually know I'm acting.

    19. TNTrevor Noah38:06

        That's the thing people take for granted, I think.

    20. IEIdris Elba38:08

        [laughs] Right?

    21. TNTrevor Noah38:08

        Yeah.

    22. IEIdris Elba38:08

        You know? So when I'm crying, all the trauma, I'm yelling or I'm, my head's about to blo- explode, it's, it's great acting, great, but actually my body doesn't know the difference.

    23. TNTrevor Noah38:18

        What do you do to get back to Idris, and how do you work on releasing that from you as a person?

    24. IEIdris Elba38:25

        I, the first thing is to acknowledge that, you know, you're acting, bro.

    25. TNTrevor Noah38:30

        Yeah.

    26. IEIdris Elba38:30

        This is not real. Go do something for yourself. Go treat yourself good. Go-

    27. TNTrevor Noah38:36

        Oh, nice

    28. IEIdris Elba38:37

        ... take some therapy.

    29. TNTrevor Noah38:38

        Okay.

    30. IEIdris Elba38:39

        Like, all of that has helped me become, I think, a better human being because I, I know my bo- I, I'm so dedicated to my characters-
16. 38:57 – 41:41

    DJing

    1. TNTrevor Noah38:57

       all, that's all for you.

    2. IEIdris Elba38:58

       Yeah.

    3. TNTrevor Noah38:58

       That's you.

    4. IEIdris Elba38:59

       That's, that's, yeah.

    5. TNTrevor Noah38:59

       'Cause I've seen people ask many times. They will say, "What are you doing, man? You've worked so hard-

    6. IEIdris Elba39:06

       Mm

    7. TNTrevor Noah39:06

       ... to climb the mountain that is Hollywood. You have broken through so many barriers."

    8. IEIdris Elba39:11

       Mm-hmm.

    9. TNTrevor Noah39:12

       "And then mans turns around and says he's a DJ-

    10. IEIdris Elba39:14

        [laughs]

    11. TNTrevor Noah39:15

        ... and he's making music, and he's taking a step back from acting, and he's..."

    12. IEIdris Elba39:18

        Mm.

    13. TNTrevor Noah39:18

        But I've seen you on the decks. You are having the time of your life.

    14. IEIdris Elba39:23

        Mm, mm.

    15. TNTrevor Noah39:23

        But I didn't know that you were doing it for you.

    16. IEIdris Elba39:25

        Me-

    17. TNTrevor Noah39:25

        I, I thought, I thought you were looking for another challenge or another thing, but this, that's like you.

    18. IEIdris Elba39:29

        It's, I need it. I need the balance. I need the, the natural juices that come from that. 'Cause I-

    19. TNTrevor Noah39:35

        What, what is it, what is it about DJing in, in particular?

    20. IEIdris Elba39:37

        It's, it's-

    21. TNTrevor Noah39:38

        I used to DJ, so I wanna know what you-

    22. IEIdris Elba39:40

        For me, it's, um, it, there's a really beautiful energy sweet point, right? It's like when you make some- when you make a whole room laugh with one gesture.

    23. TNTrevor Noah39:50

        Yeah.

    24. IEIdris Elba39:51

        That absolute pinnacle moment is a energy that you can't replicate, and it's like when you mix two songs together and the crowd go, "Ah!" That, you can't, I can't get that from acting.

    25. TNTrevor Noah40:02

        Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Okay.

    26. IEIdris Elba40:03

        You know? So but when you DJ, do anything like that, that feel, that feeling is real, and that energy that I get from doing that is, like, rejuvenating. It's like, that's the stuff, that's the stuff my batteries are really made of, you know what I'm saying? So I do it for th- I do those, I do all these different things for therapy-

    27. TNTrevor Noah40:19

        Yeah

    28. IEIdris Elba40:19

        ... because I really do commit to my roles, you know what I mean, in a way that my body doesn't know.

    29. TNTrevor Noah40:24

        How long have you been DJing for? When did you start?

    30. IEIdris Elba40:26

        Uh, I started when I was 13.
17. 41:41 – 44:34

    DJing in the hood

    1. IEIdris Elba41:41

       have you been DJing?

    2. TNTrevor Noah41:42

       So I DJed for... Oh, goodness. I started straight off, straight after high school. I, um, I, I was making music on a PC, so I was playing with everything from-

    3. IEIdris Elba41:52

       I see

    4. TNTrevor Noah41:52

       ... yeah, from mixing the music to Fruity Loops and, you know, Pro Tools and trying to play around with that stuff. A friend saw me doing it. He said, "Yo, you should come and DJ for people." I was like, "I don't do that." He said, "No, you do. Just, just come and do it." And I would sit there. Yo, when I tell you I was the biggest nerd-

    5. IEIdris Elba42:07

       [laughs]

    6. TNTrevor Noah42:08

       I would come there with a full PC rig. 'Cause it's not sexy like now with a laptop and you've got your... No.

    7. IEIdris Elba42:13

       PC. [laughs]

    8. TNTrevor Noah42:13

       I'm talking, like, a full-on... You remember, like, the, that cream-colored-

    9. IEIdris Elba42:16

       Yeah

    10. TNTrevor Noah42:17

        ... screen?

    11. IEIdris Elba42:17

        And the big plastic.

    12. TNTrevor Noah42:18

        The, yeah-

    13. IEIdris Elba42:19

        Yeah, yeah

    14. TNTrevor Noah42:19

        ... the big box.

    15. IEIdris Elba42:20

        Yeah.

    16. TNTrevor Noah42:20

        I'd come there looking like I'm about to set up somebody's network. I'd put that stuff down.

    17. IEIdris Elba42:24

        [laughs]

    18. TNTrevor Noah42:25

        This is in the hood, by the way, proper in the hood, and people are looking at me, and they w- and people would come and be like, "Sorry, sir. Where's, who's the DJ?" And I'm like, "I'm the DJ." And they go, "Where's, where's your, wh- where's your turntable?" I said, "No, I use a computer."

    19. IEIdris Elba42:39

        [laughs]

    20. TNTrevor Noah42:40

        And they're like, "For music?" And I was like-

    21. IEIdris Elba42:41

        [laughs]

    22. TNTrevor Noah42:41

        ... "Yeah." And you could see their faces go like, "Oh, this is not gonna end well"

    23. IEIdris Elba42:45

        [laughs]

    24. TNTrevor Noah42:45

        "This is not gonna end well." Yo, and then I would play... That, that was me, and I would just sit there mixing songs for, like, six hours live.

    25. IEIdris Elba42:54

        Really?

    26. TNTrevor Noah42:55

        Yeah, because you could have that much music, and I would play everything. I would go... You'd start off with, like... You know, I'd start off with, like, slow BPMs. I'd be in, like, the 70s, 80s warming things up. It'd be, like, Jagged Edge and all of that.

    27. IEIdris Elba43:05

        Yeah, yeah, yeah.

    28. TNTrevor Noah43:05

        Get to, like, 94 BPM, move things up.

    29. IEIdris Elba43:07

        Okay.

    30. TNTrevor Noah43:08

        Yeah, and then at some point I'd, like, warm it up, warm it up. We get to, like, hip hop. Midnight, we'd start playing house.
18. 44:34 – 48:21

    State of Hollywood

    1. TNTrevor Noah44:34

       We got, um, Idris the actor, Idris the DJ, Idris the, um, I- I say this, and I don't say this lightly. I think the world builder.

    2. IEIdris Elba44:45

       Mm.

    3. TNTrevor Noah44:45

       You, you have a, you have a statesman vibe to you, and I've, I've seen you with people. Like, you, you wanna create, you wanna build, you wanna grow. Like, when you look at the world you're in now-

    4. IEIdris Elba44:57

       Mm

    5. TNTrevor Noah44:58

       ... first of all, where do you, where do you see the state of Hollywood and acting and, and content and everything right now? 'Cause it's definitely changing.

    6. IEIdris Elba45:07

       Mm.

    7. TNTrevor Noah45:08

       You can't deny it. I mean, some would even argue you're the last, um, you know, the last of the, of the superstars, of, like, the real Hollywood, you know?

    8. IEIdris Elba45:18

       [laughs]

    9. TNTrevor Noah45:18

       It's... No, no, really. It's, it's, it's changing-

    10. IEIdris Elba45:19

        Wow

    11. TNTrevor Noah45:19

        ... I think. It's becoming a lot more niche. And, and you could see at the SAG Awards people talking about this, people saying, "You know, I, I played this role. I got to do that. This is what my dream was. This is how I am."

    12. IEIdris Elba45:29

        Mm.

    13. TNTrevor Noah45:29

        "Well, I got to do this for the first time."

    14. IEIdris Elba45:31

        Mm.

    15. TNTrevor Noah45:31

        "I got to play this type of character-

    16. IEIdris Elba45:33

        Mm

    17. TNTrevor Noah45:33

        ... when nobody said I could." What excites you about the industry right now, and, and where do you still wanna see the industry gr- grow and change?

    18. IEIdris Elba45:41

        Mm. You know, um, the, our industry has taken on incredible change, shape-shifting, over the last, I'd say, 10 years.

    19. TNTrevor Noah45:52

        Mm-hmm.

    20. IEIdris Elba45:53

        And it sort of, sort of began really slowly with this conversation around diversity, around our societies looking like the TV shows we were watching-

    21. TNTrevor Noah46:06

        Mm-hmm

    22. IEIdris Elba46:07

        ... and seeing that it wasn't. And then peeling the onion back even further and seeing that there wasn't very much equality within it behind the scenes. So, you know, the, sort of gender debate-

    23. TNTrevor Noah46:22

        Yeah

    24. IEIdris Elba46:23

        ... springing into action, Me Too and all this. So over the last 10 years we've seen, uh, uh, an industry that's gone through, I think, a very healthy health check. You know what I mean? Checking itself.

    25. TNTrevor Noah46:36

        Mm.

    26. IEIdris Elba46:36

        You know what I'm saying? The history that essentially rewarded people for bad behavior suddenly said enough of that, in a healthy way. Okay? Alongside that, though, came this sort of interesting expansion with the digital era.

    27. TNTrevor Noah46:52

        Mm-hmm.

    28. IEIdris Elba46:53

        Just more, you know. I mean, I come from a period where in England there was four or five channels.

    29. TNTrevor Noah47:00

        Yeah.

    30. IEIdris Elba47:00

        Okay? And you watched one of those five. [laughs]
19. 48:21 – 52:32

    Africa

    1. IEIdris Elba48:21

       What?

    2. TNTrevor Noah48:21

       Mm-hmm.

    3. IEIdris Elba48:22

       How are we getting our stories? You know, I think about our industry with a sort of opto-futurist perspective.

    4. TNTrevor Noah48:29

       Hmm.

    5. IEIdris Elba48:30

       Because as much as I've worked gladly for 30, 35 years in- You know, in America and England, I've had the most incredible opportunities and career. I still think I've got more to offer when I think about Africa. You know, when we saw what happened with Black Panther and the sort of Afro-futurism world was sort of really exploding, everyone's like, "Whoa, whoa, what is this? This is incredible." That was a moment where you're saying, yeah, you know, albeit Marvel, but it was a moment where the world sort of stood up and was like, "Oh, wait a second, there's, there's African superstars? What?"

    6. TNTrevor Noah49:06

       Yeah, yeah.

    7. IEIdris Elba49:06

       "Wait, there's African sci-fi? What?" And just imagine what that could do, you know? And it does make me excited.

    8. TNTrevor Noah49:13

       What, what, what's your dream? I, I ask everyone on the podcast, um, what now? Because I find whenever I meet people, um, they're always at an inflection point. Something's about to happen or something has happened, and now they're moving on-

    9. IEIdris Elba49:28

       Mm

    10. TNTrevor Noah49:28

        ... or they're thinking of the next step.

    11. IEIdris Elba49:29

        Mm.

    12. TNTrevor Noah49:30

        You are constantly moving towards the next step, you know? And-

    13. IEIdris Elba49:34

        Mm

    14. TNTrevor Noah49:34

        ... and in a really peaceful way, I might add. You know? It's, it's always been fun to watch the way, the way you move. You seem both grateful and also still hungry-

    15. IEIdris Elba49:43

        Mm

    16. TNTrevor Noah49:44

        ... which is a, which is a hard balance to find.

    17. IEIdris Elba49:46

        Mm-hmm.

    18. TNTrevor Noah49:46

        So, so what now? What do you dream of in your world? You know, if you could, if you could wave your magic wand, what would Idris be doing for the next decade?

    19. IEIdris Elba49:55

        Um, if I could wave my magic wand, it would be, I would be part of, uh, the African film industry's growth.

    20. TNTrevor Noah50:06

        Yeah.

    21. IEIdris Elba50:06

        Seeing studios, seeing African streaming companies, seeing producers, you know, live on the international stage while bringing collaborators into the continent.

    22. TNTrevor Noah50:20

        I love that.

    23. IEIdris Elba50:22

        As well as cl- sending our stories internationally, you know? Um, that would be, I would sit as a performer, as a director, as a producer, as a, a vessel in that, you know, in that dream.

    24. TNTrevor Noah50:40

        I love that.

    25. IEIdris Elba50:40

        That's what I would do. I mean, you know, um, um, I, I, I really appreciate your words, man, because you said quietly, and I take that to mean humbly, you know?

    26. TNTrevor Noah50:48

        Mm-hmm.

    27. IEIdris Elba50:48

        I'm humbly appreciative of the opportunities I have. I'm humbly respectful that I've been invited to this Investopia to come and talk about this dream, and that I could possibly raise some partnerships for it. So it's an exciting time. I'm hoping that one day you and me make a movie together.

    28. TNTrevor Noah51:08

        Hey. All right.

    29. IEIdris Elba51:09

        Real talk.

    30. TNTrevor Noah51:10

        All right.

Episode duration: 52:37