Idris Elba has revealed he turned down the role of being the next James Bond due to racist comments about the idea being made online. The actor, who was tipped to be the favourite to take over from Daniel Craig, appeared on the SmartLess podcast, where he explained why the offer was 'pinnacle', but he simply couldn't take it because of the 'world's vote'. "Those that weren’t happy about the idea made the whole thing disgusting and off-putting, because it became about race," he said. "It became about nonsense and I got the brunt of it." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter