Idris Elba reveals why he’s never watched ‘The Wire’ despite appearing in the series for years
10 July 2025, 08:00 | Updated: 10 October 2025, 10:11
Idris Elba was on Capital XTRA Breakfast this week to talk all things acting and his newest project ‘Head of State’, with John Cena. Although surprisingly he confesses he has never watched one of his most iconic shows ‘The Wire’ – but why?
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Idris Elba joined Capital XTRA’s Robert Bruce and Shayna Marie on Breakfast to talk all-things John Cena, and his illustrious acting career, in which he revealed a shocking revelation.
The British star unveiled that he had in fact never watched one of his most iconic projects, ‘The Wire’.
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Premiering in 2002, Idris was on the show for a total of 37 episodes spanning 2 years of his career, being one of the first programmes to take off and make a name for the star.
His role as Russel ‘Stinger’ Bell, became iconic, the show now being known as one of the best British television series of all time, it going on to win 16 separate awards including a BAFTA.
Speaking with Robert and Shayna, taking a trip down memory lane, he admitted that he had given the show a miss.
He said: “It was such a long time ago, I haven’t seen it and I don’t know if I’m ‘gonna start now.”
Idris continued: “I love the show and love the impact it has.’
IMDb still lists ‘The Wire’ as one of the stars most iconic roles, even 20 years on.
The show grew to have a cult following over the years and is widely regarded as one of the best television shows of all time. There is even a Facebook group called ‘The Wire Fans’ which has over 12K members!
Clearly the actor isn’t as impressed!
You can watch the full interview here, on Global Player.
