When I look at my body of work, I've played a lot of characters who are morally conflicted - 'I'm right, no I'm wrong, I don't know what to do!' I want to play more characters who don't care as much, and who aren't as measured. They are what they are, no apologies.

As much as it's nice to step into that massive world of Hollywood and be a big, famous actor, I prefer the career of actors that have really chosen smartly and done really amazing performances. Maybe they're not as known, but their careers are a bit more interesting.

One of my first jobs was in a soap opera, five days a week. And what I found is, although there are different directors coming in and different crews, you just lived in your character. It's the nature of the story, the ongoing story, and it can get deeper and deeper.

The role of my agent has just been to get me in the room. If I can get in the room - say the character is just a charming man who lives next door - then I'll walk in there and be as charming as I can and they will think to themselves, 'I don't see why we can't cast him.

I was cast in 'Thor' and I'm cast as a Nordic god. If you know anything about the Nords, they don't look like me but there you go. I think that's a sign of the times for the future. I think we will see multi-level casting. I think we will see that, and I think that's good.

We're all human beings. Experience is experience, let's just be honest. Let's not try and dissect suffering into a race, or whatever you want to call it. We're all human beings, one way or another. All races have gone through times that are challenging; that's part of being a human.

There's a fast-track if you can do the networking. For some personalities it works, but for mine it doesn't.

Being able to work with Ridley Scott on this film is like being able to play on the Olympic team for actors.

Television, for me, is a medium that I'm probably always going to be attached to, one way or another.

I've got two smoking guns that just look incredible, and I love to pull them out whenever I can.

I don't get recognised that much yet in London, but when I do I get a real sense of achievement.

Every leading lady I work with, I'll see if I can get a song out of them and put it on an album.

I've always been DJing; it's just I'm making more of a push for it, making it more public.

It could be Grammy night, Oscar night, whatever - I don't feel the pressure to be there.

Working at BBC, at the head of one of the top dramas, is a tradition for great actors.

What really excites me in a project is when it goes in a way you haven't been before.

Television is where I cut my teeth.

I'm never shaken or stirred.

If I was gonna go to jail, I don't want to go to jail for stealing a bottle of water. I'll steal that $20 million. At least then it was worth it.

The adrenaline feeling of jumping out of cliffs and bikes and all of that is very specific to the film. In 'Pac Rim' I'm not doing that so much. There isn't that touch stonework for me in it, but there is a lot of action.

I'm an ambitious person. I never consider myself in competition with anyone, and I'm not saying that from an arrogant standpoint, it's just that my journey started so, so long ago, and I'm still on it and I won't stand still.

I'm rebelling against being handed a career, like, 'You're the next this; you're the next that.' I'm not the next anything, I'm the first me. I can't be myself, I can't just be Idris Elba. But that's just the nature of the business.

I think 'The Wire' really is relatable. It reflects an ongoing issue across America, about inaccuracies in major cities between rich and the poor and some of the things that go on behind the red tape of council and government bodies.

I find that a lot of actors who are good and open to challenges have lived a full life. When you walk into an audition, you have more to say for yourself because you come from the real world. It's more enticing for directors, I think.

It's weird because my parents don't really understand my business. I get fan mail all day long, but if a piece happens to get to their house, they're like, 'Oh, my God, you've got a fan! You have to write them back. You have to do it!

I dont have a place that I call home at the moment because theres no point. I mean, Im a traveling circus for a while. Its weird. Like, if I wanted to go home, theres nowhere to go. I just go to a hotel. But Ive kind of gotten used to it.

I was into Spider Man when I was a kid and that was the only comic I've ever read.

There has been a big debate about it: can a black man play a Nordic character?

The directors [who know every detail] make films that are complete, basically.

I've never had to explain Prometheus to people, ever. Most people get it.

It's actually quite criminal how 'The Wire' was systematically ignored.

I was in The Wire for three years, and I left at the highlight of that.

I've been DJing mostly, and most DJs end up producing. That's just me.

I love to play different roles. That's just the kind of actor I am.

My Father always told me that a fool at 40 is a fool for life.

People watch three or four episodes at a time of their shows.

Africans, we hold on to our youths and whip them into shape.

Waking up in TRUTH is so much better than living in a lie.

The audience loves it when you pay attention to details.

Every single film I've done, it's about the character.

I wasn't bad at school, but I was never a bookworm.

In some countries, no one knows who Idris Elba is.

The less I talk about being black, the better.

I would never be fearful of any character.

I try to fit in workouts whenever I can.

I tend to stay away from the comics.