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How Did Idris Elba Learn His Character’s Fate On The Wire? Actor Reveals
Idris Elba recalls the shocking demise of his character on The Wire in a sit-down with Trevor Noah.
Russell Stringer Bell’s death on The Wire is still one of the most shocking TV deaths ever, and even Idris Elba was taken aback. In an appearance on Thursday’s episode of Spotify’s What Now? In a podcast featuring Trevor Noah, Luther star Idris Elba discussed his career’s turning point, starring in the critically acclaimed HBO drama The Wire.
The Fall of Stringer
The British actor said that, although he had pleasant memories of the hectic transition from struggling actor to smart criminal Stringer Bell. He was utterly taken aback when his character was murdered in season 3. “I didn’t know my character was gonna die until we got the episode,” Elba told Trevor Noah. He jokingly added, “It was tough love.”
The former Luther star described how he learned of Stringer’s fate after saying that “it was scary” and “a tough pill to swallow” to abruptly lose his starring role on a popular series and work less regularly for a while. Elba remembered, “They write your scripts, generally two or three in a row when you get them. And I believe that’s how I obtained episode seven. I thought, “Well, huh, episode seven.” I received the seventh episode. Eight, where are you? Please give me eight. What’s wrong?”
“‘Uh, you’re not, not, you’re not in eight,’” he continued, reenacting his interaction with the showrunners at the time. “‘What do you mean? I’m not in eight?’ ‘You should read, you should read it.’ That’s how I found out.”
How did Elba become Stringer Bell?
The Beast actor also talked about how he had to fake his accent for almost the whole audition process to get his first job on The Wire. “There’s one casting director, I talk about it all the time, Alexa Fogel,” the Emmy-nominated actor recounted. “She would ask me questions and say, Hey, listen. This Wire thing has come up. It is known as The Wire. A pilot is involved. The filming is scheduled for January. However, as this is about Baltimore, you cannot inform them that you are not American if you enter. It is quite detailed. They are not interested in strangers. Please, you understand.”
Elba clarified that it was not an issue because he had adopted an American accent while residing in Brooklyn and New Jersey and working as a DJ and bouncer. However, he was taken aback when the producers asked him, “Where are you from?” during the fourth and final audition. He claimed that as he was sweating, he thought, “They told you not to say anything.” “I’m thinking, ‘Your accent is shit,’” he said further. “I’m from East London,” I blurted out, glancing at him. The room just exploded.”
The Marvel actor ultimately disclosed that, despite trying out for Avon, the showrunners were curious about his background because they had wagered on whether or not he was lying about being American. As a result, they offered him the role of Stringer right away. Elba’s first significant part on a U.S. series was on The Wire. He starred in seasons 1 through 3 of the five-season television program, which ran from 2002 to 2008 before Omar (Michael K. Williams) and Mouzone (Michael Potts) shot and killed his character. Elba and David Simon, the creator of The Wire, have already discussed the musician/actor’s departure from the show in interviews.
Elba expressed his disappointment at having to quit the program in a 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, according to Simon, who also revealed that Elba exclaimed, “Boo,” on set as he was being zipped into a body bag. Simon remarked, “We just fell out laughing.” “It was among the most endearing things I had ever seen.” The showrunner clarified that Stringer’s killing was primarily intended “to make a political point,” given that he tried “to reform the drug war” when it was clearly “unreformable.”
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