An only child, Idrissa Akuna Elba is an English actor who was born and raised in London, England. His father, Winston, is from Sierra Leone and worked at Ford Dagenham; his mother, Eve, is from Ghana and had a clerical duty. Idris attended school in Canning Town, where he first became involved in acting, before he dropped out. He gained a place in the National Youth Music Theatre - thanks to a £1,500 Prince's Trust grant. To support himself between roles in his early career, he worked in odd jobs, including tyre fitting, cold-calling sales, and night shifts at Ford Dagenham. He worked in nightclubs under the nickname DJ Big Driis during his adolescence, but began auditioning for television roles in his early 20s.

His first acting roles were on the soap opera Family Affairs (1997), the miniseries Ultraviolet (1998), and the medical drama Dangerfield (1995). His best known roles are as drug baron Russell "Stringer" Bell on the HBO series The Wire (2002), as DCI John Luther on the BBC One series Luther (2010), and as Heimdall in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He later starred in the films Daddy's Little Girls (2007), Prom Night (2008), RocknRolla (2008), The Unborn (2009), and Obsessed (2009). He also appeared in American Gangster (2007), Takers (2010), Prometheus (2012), Pacific Rim (2013), Beasts of No Nation (2015), Star Trek Beyond (2016), Molly's Game (2017), The Dark Tower (2017), Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019), The Harder They Fall (2021), and A House of Dynamite (2025). He voiced Chief Bogo in Zootopia (2016) and Zootopia 2 (2025), Shere Khan in The Jungle Book (2016), Fluke in Finding Dory (2016), and Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024).

Idris Elba was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II at the 2016 New Years Honours for his services to drama, and was knighted by King Charles III at the 2026 New Years Honours for his services to young people.

Idris Elba at an event for Les Misérables (2012)

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Idris Elba, Kristen Wiig, Nicholas Galitzine, and Camila Mendes in Masters of the Universe (2026)

Idris Elba, John Cena, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas in Heads of State (2025)

Idris Elba and John Cena in Heads of State (2025)

Idris Elba, Chris Evans, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldaña, Óscar Jaenada, and Columbus Short in The Losers (2010)

Jeff Goldblum, Anthony Hopkins, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth, and Tessa Thompson in Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Idris Elba in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013)

Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin Answer Fan Questions

"The IMDb Show" On Location With Idris Elba

Idris Elba

Idris Elba

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