The 'Luther: The Fallen Sun' actor admits he used to hate smiling because he thought it made him look awkward and found it hard to make friends growing up.
- Feb 13, 2023
AceShowbiz - Idris Elba was not a popular kid growing up. The "Luther: The Fallen Sun" actor explained he has never found it easy to "fit in" with the in crowd, whereas his father always found making friends very easy.
"My dad was one of 11. And he was a cool guy. The guy who had all the friends. The guy who everyone wanted to be around. I was never a cool kid. I was always trying to emulate the cool kids, but I couldn't do it," he said.
"There were kids who were good at football, cool clothes, cracking jokes, all the attention on them. Playtime comes, I would not be in that group. I would try to fit in but oftentimes that would end in failure. Still happens to me today."
And Idris used to try and avoid smiling because he didn't think his grin looked "cool," but he eventually realised how inviting a positive facial expression could be.
He told the new issue of Esquire magazine, "When I was younger, I hated my smile. I didn't like smiling. I didn't think it made me look cool. I thought it made me look goofy. And then I realised that when I smile, people smile with me. Without a doubt. It's an odd phenomenon."
Though the 50-year-old actor wasn't as cool as his father when he was growing up, he inherited his "inquisitive nature" from his dad and a desire to make other people happy. He said, "What did I get from my dad? People pleaser. My inquisitive nature."
"If someone knows something, I want to understand it. My dad was like that. It's funny - I didn't see him sitting with books. We didn't have a library at home. But he would quote books. He just seemed to have a universe of facts, and a perspective on everything. I've always admired that."
