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Real world article
(written from a Production point of view)

Idrissa Akuna "Idris" Elba, OBE (born 6 September 1972; age 51) is an actor who played the antagonist Krall in the 2016 sequel Star Trek Beyond, directed by Justin Lin. According to Elba, his role needed two hours of prosthetics. [1] [2]

For Bad Robot Productions' "To Boldly Go" charity fundraising campaign, Elba nominated Heaven Homes as one of the charitities to benefit from the money donated by fans. [3] He joined the cast in the announcement video, where he breakdanced. [4]

He is best known for his roles in the television series The Wire and Luther, as well as portraying Nelson Mandela in the biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Elba played the Asgardian gatekeeper Heimdall in the Thor and Avengers films, which had him working with Kenneth Branagh, Chris Hemsworth, Alice Krige, Benedict Cumberbatch, and his Star Trek Beyond co-stars Karl Urban and Zoë Saldana.

One of Elba's earliest film roles was Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls (2007) followed that same year portraying drug trafficker Turner Lucas in the Ridley Scott directed biopic American Gangster co-starring Kathleen Garrett and Clarence Williams III. In 2008 he appeared in RocknRolla, which also included Tom Hardy. In 2010 he was part of the cast of The Losers with Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Zoë Saldana. In 2012 Elba was featured in Prometheus, co-written by Damon Lindelof. In 2013 he played Stacker Pentecost in Pacific Rim, which also featured Clifton Collins, Jr., Ron Perlman, and Brad William Henke.

As well as Star Trek Beyond, Elba could be heard providing voiceover in three 2016 Disney films, Zootopia, The Jungle Book and Finding Dory. Upcoming roles include Roland Deschain, the gunslinger, in the Stephen King adaptation The Dark Tower.

In 2016, Elba received three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations in the categories Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role for Beasts of No Nation, Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for Beasts of No Nation, and Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries for Luther. [5]

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