Idris Elba has had some roles that had to have been tough. The gritty crime drama that is Luther, which recently saw a Netflix sequel film, was probably an emotional journey for him. His BAFTA-nominated performance in Beasts of No Nation almost killed him according to reports. But apparently his toughest role, according to Elba himself, was the year he spent as the Sexiest Man Alive.
I mean, most of us certainly can’t relate to being the Sexiest Man Alive any more than we can relate to being an Asgardian God, but Idris Elba has been both, and he says the former was the tougher job. Elba recently told ET Canada that the job was tough for him mostly because he doesn’t think he photographs that well and was worried the pictures wouldn’t turn out. He explained…
My hardest role ever. … I said to the photographer, ‘I don’t always photograph great in pictures, this picture needs to be great.’
I mean, I guess I get it. It’s tough to sell yourself as the Sexiest Man Alive if the pictures in the magazine calling you that don’t make you look like you deserve the title. Somebody comes along and says you’re the Sexiest Man Alive, and that’s quite a statement to live up to. But unsurprisingly, the photographers have had some experience with this, and they were apparently able to put the actor at ease. He continued…
[They’re like] ‘No, no, no. We’ve done this a million times, we know how to do it.’ And I was like, ‘Ok, I’ll just be me.’ Then they do this sort of thing where they make your favorite camera angle work for the cover.
It’s almost humorous to hear that Idris Elba feels he doesn’t photograph well all the time, considering that’s a big part of the guy’s job. And of course, there are a lot of people who would probably nominate Elba for Sexiest Man Alive every single year if that was the way it worked. Those people probably don’t think Elba has ever taken a bad picture in his life.
I honestly wouldn’t be that surprised if other recipients of the Sexiest Man Alive title had similar feelings when doing their photoshoots for the magazine. Trying to look sexy is one of those things that’s actually hard to do, and most of the time people seen as Sexiest Man Alive probably earned that title because they look sexy when they’re not trying that hard.
Every once in a while the same person gets named Sexiest Man Alive again, so it's possible Idris Elba could get the gig again. If he dies, one hopes it will be a bit easier the second time around.
