Hollywood star Idris Elba was one of the biggest contenders for portraying James Bond after Daniel Craig left the franchise. However, he shared that he refused to play the famous MI6 spy-assassin due to high racist backlash.

According to reports, the actor told in a podcast, “Essentially, it was a huge compliment that every corner of the world except from some corners, which we will not talk about, were happy about the idea that I could be considered. Those that weren’t happy about the idea made the whole thing disgusting and off-putting because it became about race. It became about nonsense, and I got the brunt of it.”