The on-screen death Idris Elba refused to accept: “He was not happy”
Having to come to terms with your own death is, undoubtedly, a difficult process, even if the death is of a character you’re playing, and not actually your own.
Being an actor is one of the only jobs where you’re handed your work for the coming months, and the documents could unceremoniously contain not only the end of your job, but the end of the person you’ve become accustomed to embodying.
It’s understandable, thus, that some might go through the five stages of grief, starting, of course, with denial, and that’s just what happened when Idris Elba was faced with the iconic death of his character in The Wire. Although he only starred in the HBO series for two out of five seasons, Stringer Bell is one of the most beloved and well-remembered of the bunch, and remains to this day one of his career-defining performances.
So, when his death rolled around, it wasn’t just audiences that were completely shook, but the man himself. “He’ll tell you, if you get a chance to talk to him, when he read the script, he was like, ‘Man, you know, I can’t believe I’m leaving the show’,” explained showrunner David Simon, noting, “He was not happy.”
Elba’s role in The Wire was his big break, and for him, this not only meant exposure to bigger parts, but a lift out of the poverty he was used to for most of his life. He had grown up with limited means in east London, making his way through tons of menial jobs on his way to becoming an actor, so to catch that break and have to see it end after only two seasons was sure to be devastating.
Having done some stage work and a few episodes of British television like Absolutely Fabulous and The Bill before his break, Elba must have been worried about the trajectory of his career once his time as Stringer came to an end; even Simon was aware that they were killing him off, just as people were becoming aware of his leading man potential.
Hence, the creator had to have a chat with him, regarding which he recalled, “I remember talking with him over the script and saying, ‘Idris, you’re gonna have movie offers, you’re gonna be an A-lister… This is your calling card man. You’re gonna do fine.”
Whether that calmed Elba’s nerves is up for a toss, but time showed that Simon was right about his prediction. While the actor wasn’t immediately swamped with A-list films and big-budget calls, he went on to play Charles Miner in The Office, before landing his lead role in the BBC crime thriller series Luther.
If The Wire was his big break, then Luther is what solidified his standing as a leading man and icon of British acting, with the show garnering him a Golden Globe Award, and afterwards, the only way for him has been up.
He’s worked with some of the biggest names in the business at this point, like Ridley Scott and Guillermo del Toro, and been inducted into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, while snagging Sag Awards and nominations for further Golden Globes and Baftas. He’s played Nelson Mandela for Christ’s sake, so while he refused to accept his onscreen death in The Wire at the time, you could say that the death was the biggest catalyst for the birth of his career trajectory.
