'Discovering' Idris Elba OBE (!)

When I met Idris he was 19 and it was obvious he was attractive and talented- both great building blocks for a successful acting career. When I saw him act it was no surprise he got immediate job offers. I may have been there at a good time, but it was pretty clear to most he was 'going places'.

I wrote a play around 1989 called "Battieman Blues": a two-hander about black gay love. I'd been thinking about the story for a while but when a new play writing festival was announced I finally put thoughts to computer. My script became one of those chosen for a festival and I was given the opportunity to audition actors for a rehearsed reading and later production.

I invited half a dozen or so black actors to my partner's Hampstead house and was generally disappointed. One guy looked and sounded great but was severely dyslexic so the idea of him performing a rehearsed reading 2 days later was just silly. Idris stood out but when I offered him the part he said something like "...I don't really agree with gays."
"on what issues in particular?" I quipped before telling him to leave. How could I possibly work with someone with that attitude? He seemed surprised.

Mark Ravenhill had been assigned to direct the play (I didn't like that at all) but by half way through the rehearsal for the reading it was clear that one of the actors just couldn't cut it and we 'let him go'. With the performance hours away, I read the second part. The audience really liked it! I was being congratulated when Idris appeared from the audience, grovelling in apology, saying he thought the script was great and asking for a second chance. I gave in and lent him a copy of the script and asked him to return to Hampstead the following week. When he showed up, he had learned the part AND he told me he'd been to a couple of Compton St bars in London and had even chatted to a guy who cruised him until he revealed he wasn't gay. I couldn't help but be impressed.

The show was produced at the Oval House as part of the playwriting festival and then as part of "Black, Queer and Fierce" which we (Truly Fierce Productions) billed as London's first arts festival from a black gay perspective which we presented at the Lillian Bayliss studio which used to be part of the (old) Sadlers Wells. Of course Idris was a hit and not only because of the brief moment of nudity towards the end of the second half. There were always people waiting to see him after the show... (which, now I think of it; is not something I remember from any other mid-scale show in which I've been involved). I felt bad for his co-star Andy who I've not heard of again- mind you; Andy saw himself more as a model than an actor. It wasn't surprising that he got an agent and an audition to be in "The Bill" on ITV very early on. I am REALLY pleased he didn't get The Bill job, I doubt he would have had the success he has since enjoyed.

I worked as Idris' voice coach for that summer but after being offered a string of 'gangsta'/drug dealer type roles ONLY, he became disillusioned, started to DJ and left for America- where ironically his 'Big Break' came as Stringer Bell in 'The Wire'.

I've read several people claim credit for helping to start Idriss' career and I know I was only a coglet in that process myself. I was a little sad when his role as Paul in 'Battieman Blues' disappeared from his resume but "heh". He visited me once when I was running the Actors Centre in Covent Garden and told me that he used to tell casting directors of how he almost lost out on his first 'break' because he told the writer of a gay play that he didn't agree with gays.

I hope they give him Bond!