All Idris Elba Performances Ranked from Best to Worst!

Idris Elba is an English actor and he’s 50 years old. He was born in the London Borough of Hackney. He’s been married 3 times, the latest being with Sabrina Dhowre in 2019. He has 2 children. His given name is Idrissa Akuna Elba, but he shortened it to Idris at school in Canning Town. That was where he also first became involved with acting. According to the actor himself, his first big break came with The Stage. He auditioned and met his first agent in that role.

Afterward, in 1986 he began helping his uncle with his wedding DJ business and within a year he had his own DJ company. After briefly attending Barking and Dagenham College, he was accepted to National Youth Music Theatre and began his career. After that, he took part in multiple TV shows and movies! Let’s rank his performances from best to worst!

1. Luther

Luther

Luther follows the story of John Luther, a DCI working for the Serious Crime Unit. The name of the unit was later changed to Serious and Serial Unit. Luther is a brilliant and sometimes obsessive detective. But that doesn’t stop him from entering the minds of murderers and solving the crimes they committed. This often is a blessing and a curse to him because his actions often make him come face to face with his superiors…

The series was written by Neil Cross, and it ran between 2010-2019 for five seasons (well, 5 series if you want to be British). Elba has won a number of awards for his performance as John Luther, and this role is his most-known role ever.

2. Beast

Beast

The widowed Dr. Nate Samuels (Idris Elba) and his daughters go to Mopani Reserve in South Africa for a vacation. The agenda behind the vacation is for Nate to reconnect with his daughters following their mother’s death. They tour the reserve’s restricted areas with Nate’s friend Martin. During the tour, they see a local lion pride and that one is injured, and at a nearby Tsonga community, most of the population is dead as well. Martin goes back to report the findings, leaving Nate and his daughters there. They must fight the rogue lion to survive…

Beast was released on August 19, 2022, and it grossed $59 Million worldwide. It received mixed reviews from critics, but Elba got mostly positive reviews. Because until the very end, you keep wondering if he’ll survive or not. He gave one of his best performances in this movie.

3. Hobbs & Shaw

Hobbs & Shaw

Hobbs & Shaw is a spin-off movie and the 9th installment of the Fast & Furious franchise. It’s set after the events of The Fate of the Furious and before the F9 movies. The plot of the movie follows as Hobbs and Shaw make an unlikely pair to battle a cybernetically enhanced terrorist (Idris Elba). He wants to destroy the world using a deadly virus.

Elba loved his character and said that he should get his own story told in another movie. This is probably the reason why his performance in the movie made us put it on the 3rd row! However, although there is no news on whether he’ll get a solo movie, there are works in order to make a sequel for Hobbs & Shaw!

4. The Harder They Fall

The Harder They Fall

The movie follows Nat Love as he avenges the death of his parents. He eventually does get his revenge. Meanwhile, his partners ambush a gang and steal their haul from a bank robbery. Love finds out that the money stolen from the gang belongs to Buck. Buck is an enemy of Love, and he’s being released from prison as well. Love gets ready to seek revenge on Buck and rallies up his gang.

The Harder They Fall is one of the few western movies to have all-black principal cast members. The characters of the movie are loosely based on the real men of the 19th-century American West. Prior to streaming on Netflix, it premiered on October 6, 2021. It grossed millions worldwide, and widely got mixed reviews from critics. Elba’s performance however was liked in general.

You may also like: Beast Ending Explained – Will Nate Survive?

5. The Suicide Squad

The Suicide Squad

The Suicide Squad is a task force that was put together by intelligence officer Amanda Waller. They agree to carry out a mission in exchange for shortened sentences. They are sent to Corto Maltese to destroy the Nazi-era laboratory that houses an experiment called “Project Starfish”. In the film, Idris Elba plays Robert DuBois. He’s a mercenary with a technologically advanced suit. With his suit, he can transform weaponry and create different gadgets.

The American superhero film was released in 2021 and is a DC Comics movie. It’s a standalone sequel to Suicide Squad (2016) and it was written and directed by James Gunn. It got mixed reviews, but Elba’s character development was loved by many. He became the leader that was needed, and made a great job of it!

6. The Mountain Between Us

The Mountain Between Us

Neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Bass and photojournalist Alex Martin hire private pilot Walter after their flight gets canceled. They were supposed to get from Idaho to Denver to catch connecting flights for their businesses. However, Walter suffers a fatal stroke during the flight and all three of them crash on a mountaintop in the High Uintas Wilderness. The two and Walter’s dog survive the crash, but they must find a way to stay alive in the cold and the wilderness…

The Mountain Between Us premiered back in 2017 at Toronto International Film Festival and both Idris Elba and Kate Winslet’s performances were liked but also not so much. The movie itself got mainly mixed or average reviews as well.

7. The Wire

Idris Elba in The Wire

The Wire is a TV series set and produced in Baltimore. It introduces the institution of the city and its relationship with law enforcement. In each season the stories change, but the characters and advancing storylines are retained. The Wire has an uncommonly accurate exploration of politics and society with a touch of literary themes throughout its 5 seasons.

Idris Elba plays Russell “Stringer” Bell in the series. He’s the secondary antagonist in Seasons 1 & 2 but later becomes the lead antagonist in Season 3. He’s the drug king Avon Barksdale’s right hand and he’s an intelligent man and a natural leader. Elba was critically acclaimed for his role in the series! Sadly though, his character was killed off in Season 3. This may be the reason why this role is not the most known or the highest acclaimed…

8. The Dark Tower

The Dark Tower

The Dark Tower movie is based on the novel series written by Stephen King. It follows the story of Roland Deschain, along with his nemesis Walter Padick and a young boy named Jake Chambers. Jake enters a new world through a portal that is called Mid-World. There, he meets with Roland the Gunslinger, who he already knew from his visions.

Roland is on a mission to kill Walter to avenge his father and the rest of the Gunslingers. Walter is also a kidnapper who took children from their homes to use their psychic powers for his agenda. Together they will face evil in the face and try to stop Walter from all that he does! The movie got negative reviews but Elba’s performance was praised by many, though we’ve seen him in better places, and in better roles.

Continue here: 6 Best Western Movies on Netflix to Binge in 2022!