- Idris Elba hosted Saturday Night Live last night
- He referenced the James Bond rumours that have surrounded him for years in a sketch
- The British actor recently distanced himself from the role
The burden of Bond gossip continues to hang heavy on Idris Elba, but that doesn’t mean the British actor isn’t happy to poke fun at the endless speculation.
He trolled us all with a “my name’s Elba, Idris Elba…” tweet almost a year ago, and sent the rumour mill spinning with an ‘awks.....’ Daniel Craig selfie at the Golden Globes. He recently indicated that he’s not even interested in the role, but Elba still can’t help teasing 007 fans at every turn.
Which brings us to his hosting stint on Saturday Night Live last night, where he referenced the rumours once again in a spoof game show segment called ‘Can I Play That?’.
The skit saw three actors try to figure out if it was cultural sensitive for them to play certain roles. At one point, the gameshow host jokes that while acting was once about portraying other people, it was now “about becoming yourself, but with a different haircut.”
Elba’s incredulous character continues to get answers wrong, and remains mystified until the question ‘Can You play James Bond?’ pops up. “Hey, I know the answer to that one!” Elba says. “Do you though?” the host replies with a grimace.
Despite being one of the bookies’ favourites for years, Elba recently told the Daily Mail that he would be hesitant to let the role “define” him.
"Bond is one of the biggest franchises in the world, and for that reason, whoever ends up playing it, lives it," he told the journalist Craig McLean.
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"You’re THAT character, and known as that character for many, many years. I’m creating characters now that can still live alongside Idris. Not ones that take over me and solely define me."
