Idris Elba says he's 'stopped describing' himself as 'Black actor': 'I'm first Idris'

Idris Elba has decided against referring to himself as a “black actor” and he has a good reason for it.

Speaking to Esquire UK in the wake of his upcoming film, Luther: The Fallen Son, the 50-year-old actor revealed he has stopped calling himself a “black actor” because it constricts him within a label.

"I stopped describing myself as a Black actor when I realized it put me in a box," Elba shared. "We’ve got to grow. We’ve got to. Our skin is no more than that: it’s just skin."

Elba went on to explain: "Of course, I’m a member of the Black community. You say a prominent one. But when I go to America, I’m a prominent member of the British community."

He noted that we humans are “obsessed with race,” which has the capacity to “hinder people’s aspiration and growth.”

Although Elba agreed that racism “should be a topic for discussion,” “it’s only as powerful as you allow it to be.”

He continued: "I didn’t become an actor because I didn’t see Black people doing it and I wanted to change that. I did it because I thought that’s a great profession and I could do a good job at it.”

"As you get up the ladder, you get asked what it’s like to be the first Black to do this or that. Well, it’s the same as it would be if I were white. It’s the first time for me. I don’t want to be the first Black. I’m the first Idris," he added.