As humans, we are obsessed with race: Idris Elba

London-born star Idris Elba explained why he stopped describing himself as a black actor.

The 50-year-old, who has starred in a host of big-budget films and TV shows during his career, revealed that he’s reluctant to be put ‘in a box’, reported ‘femalefirst.co.uk’.

“As humans, we are obsessed with race and that obsession can really hinder people’s aspirations and growth. Racism should be a topic for discussion, sure. Racism is very real. But from my perspective, it’s only as powerful as you allow it to be. I stopped describing myself as a black actor when I realised it put me in a box. We’ve got to grow. Our skin is no more than that - it’s just skin. Rant over,” said Elba.

He went to school in Canning Town in east London and the acclaimed actor admitted he never really felt at home there.

He told ‘Esquire UK’ magazine: “I didn’t like Canning Town; didn’t like it at all. I was like, ‘When can we go home to Hackney? Go Ridley Road Market’. It was a right-wing and white working-class community. There weren’t that many black people and Asians. In my school, there was a lot of black and brown, but the neighbourhood, not so much.”

Idris said that he’s ‘the same black’ regardless of where he is in the world.

“I’m always curious why this is fascinating to people. It’s a question I get asked a lot. I don’t go to my black friends in conversation and ask them to tell me about racism.”