Idris Elba Idris Elba Idrissa Akuna Elba (; born 6 September 1972) is a British actor, producer, musician and DJ known for playing drug trafficker Stringer Bell on the HBO series "The Wire", DCI John Luther on the BBC One series "Luther" and Nelson Mandela in the biographical film "" (2013). He has been nominated four times for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film, winning one and was nominated five times for a Primetime Emmy Award. Elba appeared in Ridley Scott's "American Gangster" (2007) and "Prometheus" (2012). Elba portrays Heimdall in "Thor" (2011) and its sequels
Idris Elba is a DJ under the moniker DJ Big Driis (or Big Driis the Londoner) and a hip hop and soul musician. In 2016, he was named in the "Time" 100 list of the Most Influential People in the World. Idrissa Akuna Elba, an only child, was born on 6 September 1972 in Hackney, London. His father, Winston, was a Sierra Leonean who worked at Ford Dagenham, and his mother, Eve, is Ghanaian. Elba's parents were married in Sierra Leone and later moved to London. His paternal grandfather, Moses, was a sailor and a policeman. Elba was brought up in Hackney