Skepta reveals how friend Idris Elba influenced his first foray into film directing
Pair previously shared their distaste for race discourse surrounding James Bond
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Your support makes all the difference.Skepta has revealed how his friend Idris Elba informed his new film project, Tribal Mark.
The short film, released in January this year is the 41-year-old Mercury Prize-winning musicianās first foray into movies and follows a Nigerian-born hitman working in London.
The āThatās Not Meā rapper had previously shared how speculation around a black James Bond figure had left him āboredā, and inspired him to create his own movie.
Elba was at the centre of theories around who would replace Daniel Craig in the spy movies, and said ādisgustingā race discourse around the role had put him off.
But the star offered his expertise and guidance to Skeptaās new project, the pair having been friends for years ā with Elba even appearing on the remix to Skeptaās hit song āShutdownā in 2015.
āHeās made a couple changes and given us advice along the way,ā the rapper told Variety.āOne of the things he told us to do in the short always gets a reaction in the theater, so Iām actually happy that we listened to that.ā
Asked whether he remembered the specific advice offered, the director said: āI canāt even tell you. Thereās a specific beat, and every time everyone laughs and Iām like, āF***.āā
Elsewhere in the interview, the Boy Better Know musician shared his future hopes for the movie.
āI hope that the next thing is the feature film. I want to do the first one, and then I want to step back so I can let another Black actor come and do it,ā he said, revealing the name of the Oscar-winning actor who heād love to take his place.
āWe would love to have a fast forward of Tribal Mark that goes into the future of his life, and itās Denzel Washington. Iām shouting out to Denzel.ā
Skepta ā who was born to Nigerian parents and raised in Tottenham, north London ā told the BBC that the story was about the ādissociation of an immigrant living in the UKā, which is something he was able to relate to.
He described Tribal Mark as āan anti-hero character similar to James Bondā¦ but more complexā, and compared the project to director Todd Phillipsā 2019 villain origin story, Joker.
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