James Bond: Idris Elba ‘DISHEARTENED' by fans who say 007 must be played by white actor

The 46-year-old has been one of the hot favourites to replace Daniel Craig as James Bond. His competition includes the likes of Richard Madden, Tom Hiddleston and Tom Hardy, all of whom are often asked if they’d like to play 007 next. Now Elba has opened up once again on the prospect of taking up the Licence to Kill, being honest that he’d love to if asked but doesn’t want to be judged by his skin colour. Speaking with Vanity Fair, Elba said: “James Bond is a hugely coveted, iconic, beloved character, that takes audiences on this massive escapism journey.”

The star continued: “Of course, if someone said to me ‘Do you want to play James Bond?,’ I’d be like, ‘Yeah!’ That’s fascinating to me.

“But it’s not something I’ve expressed, like, Yeah, I wanna be the black James Bond.”

“You just get disheartened when you get people from a generational point of view going, ‘It can’t be.’ 

“And it really turns out to be the colour of my skin.”