Just when it seems like Idris Elba’s consideration for the next James Bond couldn’t get any more complicated, it does. For years now, Elba’s name has been kicked around to play the next James Bond. But there’s been a considerable amount of pushback from critics who’d rather not see a black 007.
Author Anthony Horowitz found himself in hot water in 2015 after saying Elba was “too street” to play Bond. And plenty of other people share similar sentiments, from prominent personalities down to anonymous Twitter trolls.
But there’s a new wrinkle in the years-long Idris Elba saga. Somebody very close to the actor doesn’t want him to play Bond — but it’s not because she’s not woke.
Quite the opposite actually. His fiancé Sabrina Dhowre is worried that if Idris gets the 007 role, he won’t have time for housework.
“He supports gender equality but we don’t always share all the chores at home because he works so much,” Dhowre said. “I can’t imagine what it would be like being married to the next James Bond but I’d imagine he’d be ten times as busy as he is now. I didn’t realise how busy he was. But we both do what we can. He’s the perfect guy.”
It’s probably fair to say that this take is a far cry from some of the other “he’s not white enough” arguments. I’m not sure what to think here. Is this a humble brag that Elba does housework? Because I have a really hard time believing somebody of his stature actually scrubs the toilet. And if that is the case, that’s pretty un-Bondy.
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