Idris Elba Addresses James Bond Rumors

Idris Elba, the first black James Bond?

It could happen, except that’s exactly the title the British actor, best known from HBO’s “The Wire” and BBC America’s “Luther,” doesn’t want to have.

“It’s a rumor,” he said about the Bond speculation on NPR’s “Morning Edition” Thursday. “It’s a very old rumor. My dad and I were talking about this the other day. … I would do it, but I just don’t want to be called the first black James Bond.”

“Sean Connery wasn’t the Scottish James Bond and Daniel Craig wasn’t the blue-eyed James Bond,” Elba said. “So if I played him, I don’t want to be called the black James Bond.”

But when asked if he’d hop in a cab to Sony if they called, Elba said, “I’d not only get in the cab but I’d take the taxi driver out of the car, hostage the taxi, jump out while it was moving, jump onto a pedal bike … and then get on to a plane, on the wing, land on top of Sony’s studios, slide through the air conditioning and land in their office.”

A very Bond-like entrance, for sure.