English actor Idris Elba has been making waves on both sides of the pond the past few years playing gruff yet funny tough guys on TV and making eye-catching turns in action flicks like RocknRolla and Thor. But the solid performer is finally getting his due. Last night, after winning a Golden Globe for leading the sharp British detective series Luther, Elba revealed that he would be reprising his role as Heimdall, the omniscient gatekeeper of Asgard, in Thor 2. Elba was clearly exhilarated from garnering worldwide recognition for his "little show" (seriously if you're not watching Luther, get on that), when MTV asked if he was signed on for more Marvel movies, to which Elba replied:
"Thor 2 for sure. Avengers I'm not sure about but Thor 2 we're going at it again."
Elba has spent the past five months in Toronto working on another much-anticipated action feature, Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim. And rather than another supporting role, here Elba scored the lead, all the more impressive as Tom Cruise was reportedly campaigning for the part. When asked about what could be his breakthrough in film, the exuberant actor declared del Toro a "genius" and said fans can expect, "A mad monster movie with robots and me!" He assures, "You're going to love it."
In the meantime, Elda will dive into sci-fi elsewhere, appearing opposite Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron and Patrick Wilson in Ridley Scott's Alien-inspired action-horror flick Prometheus that may prove to be an Alien prequel. Simply put, Elba's got a lot more attention coming this way. And as someone who has marveled at his profound charisma and serious skills across a wide array of genres, let me say it's about time!
