British actor Idris Elba has revealed that he plans to step away from acting at some point in order to focus fully on directing.
The 53-year-old appeared at a Q&A session at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia, where he discussed his latest directing project, the short film Dust To Dreams.
This is his first directing work since his 2018 feature film Yardie, and he hopes to continue building his career as a director.
“I hope my acting fans won’t be angry with me. Eventually, I want to continue entirely with directing,” he said.
Elba, who has played over 130 acting roles in his career, admitted that he has been acting for a long time.
“I still love acting, but I think directing allows me to flex different creative muscles and to be part of the set in a different way. I really enjoy it,” he added.
The actor also briefly spoke about his upcoming directing project, This Is How It Goes, an Apple film based on Neil LaBute’s 2005 play.
Elba further confirmed during the Q&A that the rumors about him becoming the next James Bond are not true.
Even though he plans to step away from acting, he said in July on the podcast Good Hang that he still considers acting a privilege.
“This isn’t a job. So when I get the opportunity to work on a film set, it doesn’t feel like work. Everyone else says, ‘You work so much,’ but it’s not that hard,” he said at the time.
