From Madiba To The Pan-Africanist: Playing His Part For The Continent

From Hackney to Hollywood, Idris Elba has always had one thing on his mind - Africa. He is now investing in the continent's movie industry, is on course to build a smart city in Sierra Leone, is tackling the climate crisis and as a true 'son of the soil', is also lending a helping hand to farmers on the ground in Africa

- By Chanel Retief

On a warm day in an undisclosed movie set in London, Idris Elba has an hour before his next shot for the upcoming action comedy film, Heads of State.

“Hi, can you hear me?” he asks, as we begin our Zoom interview. “Hold on, I will just switch my camera on.”

And then the face that has graced many a magical silver screen, appears.

What follows next cannot be on any script. The actor can’t stop smiling.

“I cannot tell you how excited I am to be speaking to FORBES AFRICA,” he enthuses.

In a career spanning over two decades, Elba has brought to life iconic roles with lines like: “Does my face not remind you of what a grown man can do?” (Shere Khan in Disney’s live-action remake of The Jungle Book); and “I know who you are, and I see the line that you won’t cross. See, I know what’s on the other side.” (Rufus Buck in the Netflix Original The Harder They Fall).

But nothing felt more critically acclaimed – and African – for Elba than playing former South African President, antiapartheid revolutionary and political leader Nelson Mandela in the 2013 biographical film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom; a role which the actor tells FORBES AFRICA was “significantly unbelievable” but also one he was “incredibly nervous” about. “There is an incredible array of talented South African actors that could have played that role and that should have played that role,” he explains. “And I almost felt like ‘whoa, is it my place to play