Idris Elba confirms he will not be playing James Bond, after months of speculation around his casting

Actor Idris Elba will not be the next James Bond . Speaking on the red carpet at the premiere of his new film Yardie  in London on the night of 21 August, he squashed fans’ hopes that he might be taking over as the popular fictional character James Bond from actor Daniel Craig, reports dailymail.co.uk . The actor was asked if he preferred “shaken or stirred”, in a nod to the spy character’s favourite drink - a martini. Elba replied: “Stir-fried actually.” He was then asked: “Am I looking at the next 007?” The actor responded with a firm “no”. His confirmation puts an end to weeks of rumours that he could be the first black actor to take on the role. [caption id=“attachment_5019831” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Elba Idris. Image via Twitter @idriselba[/caption] It comes as director Danny Boyle quit as director of the next Bond film, citing “creative differences”. Last week, Elba posted a selfie on Twitter, captioning it: “My name’s Elba, Idris Elba,” echoing Bond’s catchphrase. The actor acknowledged that “apparently” he set off a bit of a firestorm “by telling people my name”.

However, Elba  posted another tweet  a few hours later saying, “Don’t believe the HYPE ….” Elba has been linked to the Bond franchise for years, although he has previously said that he thought he might be too old. American film director-producer Antoine Fuqua stoked long-running speculation about Elba taking on the role, when he  told Britain’s Daily Star  that Bond movie boss Barbara Broccoli had said “it is time” for a non-white actor to play agent 007. The 25th Bond film is scheduled for U.S. release on 8 November next year. (With inputs from Indo-Asian News Service)