No matter how much an actor prepares themselves, there will always be elements of starring on a popular series that they’re not ready for. In Idris Elba’s case, he wasn’t expecting his big “The Wire” death scene to come so soon. And he definitely wasn’t expecting to get the news of Stringer Bell’s demise in such an awkward way.
While appearing on the podcast, “What Now? With Trevor Noah,” the “Hijack” star revealed that his character’s famous death was a total surprise for him, and that it offered some “tough love” to the actor.
“You usually get your scripts two, three in a row,” Elba said. “And I think the way I got it, I got episode seven. I was like, ‘Oh, um, episode seven. I got episode seven. Where’s eight? Can I get eight? What’s wrong?’”
In case you need a refresher, Stringer is killed in Season 3 when all his plans and manipulations against his friend Avon Barksdale come to light. Apparently, the “Beast” actor was just as surprised as viewers were to see the character’s fate. Stringer always seemed like he was several moves ahead of everyone else.
Things got awkward when he was told “‘Uh, you’re not in eight.’” When he asked what that meant, Elba was advised to read the episode seven script. “That’s how I kind of found out,” he explained to Noah.
The other interesting tidbit from his time on “The Wire” is that Elba hid his British origins until the very last minute. The casting director told him to hide his true background because producers wanted the Baltimore set series to feel authentic. During his fourth audition, the moment of truth came when he was asked where he was from. The nerve-wracking question led to a fateful decision for Elba.
“They told you, ‘Don’t say nothing.’” he said, “I’m thinking, ‘Your accent is shit. They sus-ed you.’ I look at him and I said, ‘I’m from East London. The room just exploded.’”
Turns out the showrunners had a bet going on whether or not he was really from the U.S. He was offered Stringer Bell and the rest is history.
Up next, Elba will reprise the voice of the titular role in the Paramount+ series “Knuckles,” premiering April 26.