IDRIS ELBA

He loves Sonic the Hedgehog, can’t watch The Wire and is a nerd at heart

What’s the view from your sofa? My TV is in front, with a little sofa on the left, another to the right, and an olive tree. Or it might be an olive plant.

What TV have you enjoyed recently?

Shogun on Disney+ – it’s very good. It gives you a sense of history about the intersection of the Japanese Empire, Catholicism, the Portuguese and the English. It’s just fascinating.

Have you really never watched The the show that made your name?

Wire, I haven’t seen it. I know it’s a clichéd thing for actors to say they don’t like watching themselves, but I just feel like I’m terrible. I’m like, “Oh, why are you saying it like that?” I watched the Luther …lm [ The Fallen Sun] because I was producing on it, so I needed to. But I haven’t watched much of my work at all.

Is Luther’s coat still waiting for you?

The coat is still waiting, yeah. Luther is my legacy project. It’s the character I’ve played the longest in my life; there are de…nitely still things I want him to do.

You’re currently in Knuckles, the new Sonic the Hedgehog TV spin-off. How do you voice an echidna warrior?

It’s about …guring out how he sounds. English isn’t his …rst language, so he gets his words muddled, he doesn’t get the humour, he hasn’t much of a bedside manner. I loved playing him in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, so it’s been fun to get under the hood of the character a bit more.

Were you familiar with Sonic’s world before you were cast?

I had a Sega Mega Drive when I was younger, and Sonic was one of the games you got with it. It was wicked. I don’t think Knuckles was in it, but I loved the whole universe. I’m still a big gamer.

Is your son watching Knuckles?

Yeah. Winston [aged ten] loves it when I do animated characters. He can’t watch Luther – not that I’d encourage him to! So it’s great with a show like Knuckles, when we can gather all the family in the living room, with everyone laughing. It’s funny, really well-made, old-fashioned family entertainment.

How has playing the role of Knuckles compared to playing Nelson Mandela?

It’s the same spirit – of telling stories and entertaining. They’re di”erent, obviously. When you play someone like Nelson Mandela, you’re embodying not just a human being, but a time. I suppose it’s the di”erence between a doodle and an oil painting. I never say no to any kind of role. I’ll try anything.

As a boy, did you ever imagine yourself having a career like this?

I’m an only child, so I had a massive imagination – everything was possible. I thought I’d be able to –y one day.

Time magazine once listed you as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Do you feel influential?

It’s a bit rich, isn’t it? Out of how many billion people? But I do feel more and more in–uential, actually. I’ve found that when you advocate for something [he campaigns on issues ranging from knife crime to African food security], people listen. I’ve been in rooms with heads of state asking my advice. You think, “Wow, maybe Time didn’t get that so wrong…”

What’s your greatest disappointment?

When I lost my dad. I just couldn’t believe that… that’s it. Is that what life is? One day you’re there, the next day you’re not? That was a big revelation for me. I’d never lost anyone until I lost my dad. It was like the bottom fell out of my world. And my proudest achievement is my children. It’s the cycle of life.

What would surprise people about you?

Television does two things: it makes you look bigger, and it ampli…es things that aren’t really realistic about you. When people meet me in real life they go, “Oh, you’re not like Luther, are you?” I come across as quite a serious person, but I’m actually quite goofy and not very cool. Honestly, I’m more of a nerd than I am John Luther.

All six episodes of Knuckles will premiere on Paramount+ on Saturday