Idris Elba has perfect response to ‘too street’ controversy

Idris Elba tried to stay above the fray as James Bond author Anthony Horowitz has to apologize for giving his opinions on why the Luther star shouldn’t play Ian Fleming’s famous spy. However, Elba did respond with a fantastic, classy statement.

Elba, who only recently began using his Instagram profile again, posted a screenshot of MovieFone’s story on the controversy. Since it featured a picture of him smiling at the Oscars, Ela wrote, “Always Keep Smiling!! It takes no energy and never hurts! Learned that from the Street!!” He added a smiley face emoji.

On Tuesday, Horowitz’s comments about Elba went viral. He told the Daily Mail, “Idris Elba is a terrific actor, but I can think of other black actors who would do it better,” adding, “For me, Idris Elba is a bit too rough to play the part. It’s not a colour issue. I think he is probably a bit too “street” for Bond. Is it a question of being suave? Yeah.”

Those comments annoyed fans of Elba’s work and Horowitz ended up apologizing for the comments, noting that he was specifically thinking of the actor’s Luther role. “I am mortified to have caused offence,” Horowitz wrote.

Horowitz wrote the new Bond novel, Trigger Mortis, which is out on Tuesday. As for Elba, he can be seen in the Netflix release Beasts of No Nation, which opens on Oct. 16 and will be available to stream on the same day.