Sep 1, 2015 THE author of a new James Bond novel has sparked a race row after saying black actor Idris Elba was “too street” to play the secret agent. Anthony Horowitz, whose first Bond novel Trigger Mortis is published this month, added that the Pacific Rim star was not “suave” enough for the iconic role. Elba was first tipped to play the secret agent in December last year; a casting choice proposed by then-Sony chief Amy Pascal in a leaked email. “For me, Idris Elba is a bit too rough to play the part. It’s not a colour issue. I think he is probably a bit too ‘street’ for Bond. Is it a question of being suave? Yeah,” Horowitz told The Daily Mail. He said that while the British star was a “terrific actor”, he could “think of other black actors who would do it better”, such as Adrian Lester from Hustle. The adventure writer’s comments sparked outrage on social media, with one Twitter user labelling them “cowardly racist”.
Sep 7, 2015 So are 99% of main characters in cinema. It's good that they're trying to bring some diversity.