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For the modern Hollywood star, look no further than @IdrisElba. He’s had a busy movie year (a directorial debut, a Fast & Furious spinoff, a highly-anticipated Cats adaptation, not to mention a successful DJ career with sets at Coachella and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding.) Read V.F.’s full August cover story at the #linkinbio. Photograph by @collierschorrstudio. Styled by @LudivinePoiblanc. Story by K. Austin Collins. Jacket, T-Shirt & Pants: @louisvuitton Ring: @givenchyofficial Sunglasses: @jacquesmariemage

A post shared by Vanity Fair (@vanityfair) on Jun 27, 2019 at 5:04am PDT

In recent months, there are many people who’ve been lobbying for Idris Elba to play James Bond.

While the actor himself isn’t consciously lobbying to play the part, he has addressed the racist backlash that followed. Apparently, there were many folks who’d rather see a white man play the iconic Brit.

“You just get disheartened when you get people from a generational point of view going, ‘It can’t be.’ And it really turns out to be the color of my skin,” he said to Vanity Fair. “And then if I get it and it didn’t work, or it did work, would it be because of the color of my skin? That’s a difficult position to put myself into when I don’t need to.”

Still, he knows how incredible playing the legendary character would be.

“James Bond is a hugely coveted, iconic, beloved character, that takes audiences on this massive escapism journey,” he said. “Of course, if someone said to me, ‘Do you want to play James Bond?,’ I’d be like, ‘Yeah!’ That’s fascinating to me. But it’s not something I’ve expressed, like, ‘Yeah, I wanna be the black James Bond.’ Because, by the way, we’re talking about a spy. If you really want to break it down, the more less-obvious it is, the better.”

We love you, Idris!