Idris Elba calls on politicians to diversify British TV

He is convinced that he would never have scored a lead TV role if he stayed in Britain, where he would have been stuck with best friend roles or “cop sidekick parts”.

“I knew I wasn’t going to land a lead role. I knew there wasn’t enough imagination in the industry for me to be seen as a lead.

“In other words, if I wanted to star in a British drama like Luther, then I’d have to go to a country like America. And the other thing was, because I never saw myself on TV, I stopped watching TV. Instead I decided to just go out and become TV.”