Idris Elba has a lot on his plate nowadays. He’s now starring in the new thriller called Obsessed, in which he finds himself being fought over by Beyoncé Knowles (as his wife) and Ali Larter (as her psychotic rival). He has also been cast in the action crime movie Takers, and the action film The Finest, as well as the adventure drama The Losers.

Most recently, however, Elba took a stab at the small screen as The Office‘s new boss, Charles Miner – a role he wasn’t expecting to book at all.  

“The most dynamic and sophisticated comedy to hit television in the last 10 years, if you like, and here it is, they’re calling me,” Elba said of The Office. “It’s a great, great feeling. And as quickly as it came, I was on the set. It really felt like an out-of-body experience. ‘I watch this show; what am I doing here? What is Steve Carell doing, improvising and trying to make me laugh?’ They all do that. John [Krasinski] especially.

“He said to me the other day, ‘My character hates your character so much, it makes me want to hate you in real life. Is that OK?’ They’re great guys, I love working on that show,” Elba added.

Elba joined The Office in March beginning with the episode “New Boss” and immediately became a much hated character of the show’s fan base, which is something he never expected.

“I made the mistake of going online and seeing what people were saying. ‘Who the . . . is Charles? We hate him! This is terrible!’ All the way, man,” he said. “The Wire [where Elba played his best role yet as Russell ‘Stringer’ Bell] had a cult following, so I’m very understanding of that. But The Office, their cult following is unbelievable.”

Idris Elba’s final episode on The Office aired Thursday.  

-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: latimes.com
(Image courtesy of NBC)

Kris De Leon

Staff Writer, BuddyTV