I Don't Get the Appeal

Have you seen The Wire or Luther? That's where Idris Elba gets his "cult following" from.

The Wire is universally regarded as one of the best shows in the history of TV, and Elba's character was one of the most memorable. At the time very few people knew who he was, and to most viewers it was a shock to learn he's British.

Luther is just awesome and fun to watch. It's not a show you're supposed to think too much about, which is kind of the opposite of The Wire, but its craziness and the acting performances give the show a great energy.

Aside from that, Elba's had leading roles in Star Trek Beyond, Pacific Rim, Beasts of No Nation, No Good Deed and Mandela, and he's done voice work for The Jungle Book, Finding Dory and Zootopia. I mean, that's no joke -- those movies have made billions combined.

I can't speak to his sex appeal, but as a dude I like the intensity Elba brings to his roles, and the fact that all of his characters seem genuinely different. It's not like Tom Cruise, who plays Tom Cruise in every movie, or other actors who have "types" they play. Elba seems capable of taking almost any role and turning in a memorable performance.

Bigly.

Cool. Thanks for the response. I have not seen The Wire. I will check it out.

He's most known for Luther since he's the main character. I haven't seen The Wire either but have heard nothing but good things; however, from what I understand The Wire has more of an ensemble team of actors/characters so I don't know if Idris got as much screen time during that whole series. Luther is where Idris became big and you get to hear him using his natural accent in an actual British show. It's kinda like watching Benedict Cumberbatch in a US movie vs watching Benedict in Sherlock. It's more natural and British show storytelling and dialogue is just better, imo. To make a long story short (too late) check out Luther if you want to "get the appeal"

It's one of those shows very few people watched when it was airing, but became a huge cult favorite thanks to people discovering it later and bingeing it online.

Some people have trouble at first with so many characters and so much happening, but if you give it a few episodes and pay close attention, the payoff is well worth it.

Bigly.

While it's true that The Wire is an ensemble (and a large ensemble, at that), Idris gets plenty of screen time. He's arguably the most important antagonist for the first few seasons.

I like Brifish TV shows and UK actors, but a lot of well known U.K.-based shows are produced by American companies and written by American writers, or the shows are British-American co-productions. For example, Rome and Downton Abbey were international co-productions. Game of Thrones shoots in Ireland and 95% of the cast is British, but it's produced and written by Americans.

Bigly.