An only child, Idrissa Akuna Elba was born and raised in London, England. His father, Winston, is from Sierra Leone and worked at Ford Dagenham; his mother, Eve, is from Ghana and had a clerical duty. Idris attended school in Canning Town, where he first became involved in acting, before he dropped out. He gained a place in the National Youth Music Theatre - thanks to a £1,500 Prince's Trust grant. To support himself between acting roles, he worked in jobs such as tyre-fitting, cold call advertising sales, and working night shifts at Ford Dagenham. He worked in nightclubs under the nickname DJ Big Driis at age 19, but began auditioning for television roles in his early-twenties.

His first acting roles were on the soap opera Family Affairs (1997), the television serial Ultraviolet (1998), and the medical drama Dangerfield (1995). His best known roles are as drug baron Russell "Stringer" Bell on the HBO series The Wire (2002), as DCI John Luther on the BBC One series Luther (2010), and as Heimdall in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He later starred in the films Daddy's Little Girls (2007), Prom Night (2008), RocknRolla (2008), The Unborn (2009) and Obsessed (2009). He also appeared in the films American Gangster (2007), Takers (2010), Thor (2011), Prometheus (2012), Pacific Rim (2013), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Beasts of No Nation (2015) and Star Trek Beyond (2016). He voiced Chief Bogo in Zootopia (2016), Shere Khan in The Jungle Book (2016), and Fluke in Finding Dory (2016).

Idris Elba was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2016 New Years Honours for his services to drama.

Trivia

Disc jockey under the name "Big Driis the Londoner".
Has appeared on the cover of Essence magazine's "Hot Hollywood Men" issue. [April 2004]
Has one daughter with his ex-wife Hanne "Kim" Norgaard: Isan Elba (born 2002); Isan currently resides with her mother in Atlanta, Georgia.
Is an only child of African immigrants to England. His father was from Sierra Leone and his mother was from Ghana. His name is of Krio African origin.
He appeared on the Black Entertainment Television (BET) special Black Men: The Truth (2007).
He co-produced and performed the intro on rapper Jay-Z's album "American Gangster" (2007).
Former member of the National Youth Music Theatre.
Has been a huge fan of Arsenal Football Club since age 15, although admits only to having gone to two matches. His father is a supporter of Manchester United Football Club (interview on arsenal.com website February 2010).
Named one of People magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People in the World. [May 2007]
Became a father for the second time at age 41 when his girlfriend Naiyana Garth gave birth to their son Winston Elba on April 17, 2014.
In April 2009, The Prince's Trust, which Elba credits with helping to begin his career, appointed him their Anti-Crime Ambassador. In July 2010, he announced his support for Oona King in her campaign to become the Labour Party candidate for Mayor of London in 2012.

[on the differences between him and his character Stringer Bell from The Wire (2002)] Stringer is very calculating and he has to be for so many reasons. He will calculate the next steps, shipments, inventory, pays workers... all that. But the wicked part is that he can plan murders because that's a part of his business. I'll tell you, if I, Idris, had to contract for murders as part of my job, I couldn't do it because I have a heart. I have no stomach for ordering other people's deaths. Stringer just gets in there, orders the deed and bam... that's it... it's done and he doesn't think twice about it. There's no way I could be that cold. I'm also a more lively kid out there, doing stuff and I can't just do one thing forever. Stringer is committed to his job and business so much so he doesn't have much of a personal life so he's more one dimensional. As for me I have a child, a life, thirst for travel, you know I'm curious... whereas Stringer is more interested in being the best business person and his interests don't go further than that.
[on why he uses his American accent when talking to fans of The Wire (2002)] Wherever I go, the real hardcore drug dealers come up to me and confide in me. I almost feel guilty turning around and saying: "Ello, mate. My name's Idris and I'm from London." I don't want to break the illusion.
[on the diversity of projects he's been involved with and if there's any kind of role that frightens him] I would never be fearful of any character. I think there's a tendency for actors like myself, and I don't mean to generalize myself, but I've played "men's men", if you will, characters that are simmering rage and calculated. There's a trend not to play anything that is opposed to that. I remember when I left Stringer [on HBO's The Wire (2002)], one of the films I did was Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls (2007), which was about a man doting over his three little girls. I remember there was talk, "Why? Would would you do that? Play gangsters. Play ruthless." It's really funny because the same people who loved me as Stringer Bell were the same people that were watching Daddy's Little Girls literally in tears. Some people don't like the film, but some of the guys that came up to me and said, "Yo, I want to see you play gangsters" were the same ones that were in tears because they had either strained relationships with their children, or they loved their children so much and they were watching a character that they could relate to. I don't mind playing characters that are opposite of what people think I am.