Idris Elba - So, Now What? The Biography

by Nadia Cohen

From starring as the ruthlessly ingenious drug lord 'Stringer' Bell in the iconic HBO series The Wire, to playing Madiba himself in the long-awaited biopic of Nelson Mandela, it has been some journey for Idris Elba. From humble beginnings, a second generation immigrant born in Hackney, London, Elba set up his own wedding DJ business at the age of 14 but, encouraged by his drama teacher to pursue his natural talent, won a place at the National Youth Music Theatre.Although possessed of a brooding screen presence which served him so well as DCI John Luther in the BBC's terrifying crime drama series Luther, 2016 will show a whole new side to Idris as he forays into the voice acting world as villainous tiger Shere Khan in The Jungle Book remake and even a role in Pixar centrepiece Finding Dory.He inhabits each role as if he were born to play it. But what of the man himself? In this, the only biography of the onscreen legend, Nadia Cohen reveals Elba's life behind the lens, exploring what makes him so ambitious, adaptable and endlessly watchable. His charisma has won him admirers on both sides of the Atlantic, and the role of Bond may yet beckon. So now what, Idris?

242 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 7, 2016

About the author

Nadia Cohen is an author who has written more than a dozen historical and contemporary biographies.

The Real Beatrix Potter will be the latest in a series of fascinating in-depth biographies about apparently whimsical children’s story tellers who actually hid a darker side behind the public facade. Others already published include The Extraordinary Life of AA Milne, The Real Roald Dahl and The Real Enid Blyton.

In a previous incarnation as an entertainment reporter she worked at various newspapers and magazines in London including Grazia, The Daily Mail and The Sun, covering showbiz news, film festivals, premieres and award ceremonies around the world. She was headhunted to join the launch of US magazine In Touch Weekly and spent several years working in New York and Los Angeles before returning to London to produce a series of documentaries for ITV.

Nadia lectures in Journalism at University of Winchester and is the editor of digital lifestyle magazine Box Ibiza.

Reviews

[Thom Stratton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mr. Elba is an interesting person, but surely there was more to talk about than this? It seems almost like the writer got lots of information in a few areas while failing to dig deeply enough to find others, and even then didn't really have enough information for a book, so she put every bit of information she had into it, even though it meant repeating herself several times in the same chapter and then again in later chapters.

Considering how much depth there is in other biographies I've read, this was slightly disappointing, and the repetition made it difficult to keep reading. True Elba fans will love this book, but was merely okay with it.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was quite excited to read this book when I bought it, but unfortunately, was soon put off by the repetition and the somewhat chaotic narrative. There are so many jumps back and forth in time, I could barely keep track of the order that events had happened in.

The author seems to have gathered a fairly limited number of facts about Idris Elba, which she has shambolically tried to stretch out into a book by repeating the same facts and quotes multiple times across various chapters, sometimes more than once in the same chapter. Whilst I am interested in the subject matter, and enjoyed learning a bit more about Idris, this book was a chore to finish.

[Natalie Atkin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a lot right with this book.

Bad structure, bad grammar, mistakes.

On top of this the author uses quotes that contradict previous quotes and repeats often.

All in all my most disappointing read of 2024, possibly ever.