Idris Elba opens up about his personal life following the death of his father. In fashion news, Naomi Campbell is now a contributing editor at British VOGUE. More inside…
Issa double cover!
Idris Elba is serving up twice the sexy for ESQUIRE magazine’s August 2017 issue (one is the exclusive subscriber cover).
For the cover story, Idris shares a time in his life where he almost gave up. It was right after he starred in 2013’s Mandela: Long Road to Freedom. When the British actor told his father, Winston, he was playing the iconic Nelson Mandela, his father wept with tears of joy.
"I cannot believe my son has been asked to play that great man," Elba recalled his father saying.
Winston was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2013 and seven days before his death (on Idris’ birthday), the Dark Tower actor revealed he and his girlfriend (at the time) Naiyana Garth were expecting.
"If it's a boy, you must call him Winston," his father said. Seven months after his father’s death, Idris and Naiyana welcomed a baby boy and they named him Winston.
The death of his father triggered a midlife crisis for the actor. He shared:
"I got to a place where I wasn't even living anymore. I was becoming a robot with my work. I have no fear of jumping out of burning cars or out of buildings on set, but in reality, I couldn't run one hundred meters. I just felt out of touch with reality.”
To heal, he thought about another piece of advice his father gave him: "Fear nothing. Do what you want to do, but be educated and intelligent and confident about it."
Elba decided he wasn't going to miss the chances life presented. "I had forgotten what it is to feel that burn on your tongue, when your adrenaline is going so much and you're in fight or flight. I was like, I'll be tired when I'm dead. . . . I just thought, Yo, Dris, do you want to do something crazy? Should we just try to make a documentary?"
Thus, a four-part series titled Idris Elba: No Limits was born and that helped Idris over that dark time in his life.
You can read his full interview here.
Peep flicks of the British hottie’s spread below:
Loving the salt and pepper beard!
In fashion news...
New British VOGUE editor-in-chief Edward Enninful is shaking up the magazine with some heavyhitters.
He just announced that Naomi Campbell, along with Kate Moss and Steve McQueen, will be joining the team as a contributing editor. And Grace Coddington has signed on as a contributor.
“I am thrilled that Kate, Naomi Steve and Grace are going to work with us in these new roles,” Edward told VOGUE UK.“As two of the biggest international style influencers and supermodels, the impact Naomi and Kate have in today’s culture is enormous.”
Edward will officially start his role as editor-in-chief on August 1st.
Congrats!
Photos: Victor Demarchelier via ESQUIRE
