Idris Elba says he has never watched ‘The Wire' and never will
The hunky actor and sought-after DJ confessed that he hasn't seen a single episode of the HBO hit that made him a household name, in which he played debonair yet dastardly drug dealer Stringer Bell.
'If I'm really honest, I didn't watch 'The Wire,'' he shared on this week's episode of the 'Good Hang with Amy Poehler' podcast. 'I didn't watch it. And I feel bad. It's not that I'm not a fan of it — I was there.'
The London native made a career breakout on the David Simon-created drama, hailed as one of the best shows in television history. He appeared in the first three seasons of the series, which also propelled the careers of Michael K. Williams, Andre Royo, Dominic West, Sonja Sohn, Tristan 'Mack' Wilds, Wood Harris and Tony Award-winner Wendell Pierce.
Despite understanding now 'the importance of the show,' Elba admits that he's never 'participate[d] in its celebration as a viewer, as a fan' so he feels 'a little bit outside of the club.'
And while he does 'feel proud' of his time on 'The Wire,' the Golden Globe and SAG Award winner has no desire to ever watch his work.
'It [would be] weird for me to go back and watch it,' Elba told Poehler. 'I don't like being overly conscious about what my performance is like, because it makes me conscious about doing it. I like being in it rather than watching it.'
Still, Elba acknowledges the lasting effect the show has had and continues to have on viewers, even 20 years later.
'At least once a day, someone says, 'Bro, Stringer Bell, The Wire,' … It really does, it surprises me how much impact that show had,' he said. 'In a good way, it surprises me continuously that, you know, multi-generationally, it's still being talked [about by] people that weren't even born then.'
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