With Ghanaian and Syrian parentage, Elba grew up in the suburban East Ham, a multicultural district of London. He says he never had a way with the ladies, and was actually quite reticent when growing up in London, but his roguish good looks and charismatic demeanor prove quite the opposite now. At the age of 14 he and friends had begun their own DJ company and once he turned 19 he had adopted the nickname Big Driis, though his DJing career never had a chance to take off as soon after he began auditioning for television roles. The roles, though, were not enough to pay all the bills, and Elba took on jobs between acting gigs including work at a Ford factory in London.
Finally, in 1995, he landed a role as a gigolo in the British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous and from then on the parts started coming in. He was cast in the British soap opera Family Affairs and serial Ultraviolet followed by a role as a forensic scientist in the series Dangerfield. By 2000, however, Elba was ready to come to America.
And America was ready for him. To get down the accent, Elba says he, ''kind of cheated'': ''I snuck in and listened to everyone speaking, like, ‘Can you say that again, please mate?''' After a single role on Law & Order, Elba landed the part that's made him famous: Russell ''Stringer'' Bell of HBO's The Wire. The dramatic series focuses on different facets of the city of Baltimore, Maryland and, as creator and writer David Simon says, how the ''institutions have an effect on individuals, and how whether you're a cop, a longshoreman, a drug dealer, a politician, a judge or a lawyer, you are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution you've committed to.'' Elba played that drug dealer to critical acclaim. His newfound fame then allowed him to take on roles closer to his heart like that in Sometimes in April, an independent film about the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. Occasionally he also returned to England take on roles such as his appearance in the British comedy-drama series The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
During this time Elba married a celebrity makeup artist, had a daughter, and then became divorced. He admits he had been, for a long time, very private about his personal life, but he's recently ''just realized, you know what, who cares?'' He says, ''I honestly think that marriage is outdated. I think people need to get married because they're in love, not because it's the ‘right' thing to do. I got married at 25 and was divorced by 29. You're coerced by society, by family..by your religion.''
More recently, Elba has been taking on movie roles, most notably the lead in Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls and the role of ''Tango'' in American Gangster. He will soon be seen in 2010's Takers alongside Hayden Christensen, Chris Brown, T.I., and Paul Walker as well as in the upcoming Thor as the Marvel comic book character Heimdall. He has also taken an interest in music, a throwback to his DJ Big Driis days, readopting the name Driis. He has released two EPs, Big Man and Kings amongst Kings and has reprised his DJing abilities on several occasions.
Now Elba's acclaimed series Luther is coming to BBC America. Elba calls it ''one of the best dramas you're going to see in recent times.'' He knows it sounds egotistical, but with his English lilt, and overall charm, it's sure to be true.
