Idris Elba Makes Candid Admission About Aging Into His 50s

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Idris Elba is one of the most respected actors in all of Hollywood, a distinction he's earned through hard work and a long career.

He's now 52 - several years removed from breaking into the mainstream as part of HBO's "The Wire" - and recently took some time to reflect on his life and the journey he's taken during it.

Elba joined Amy Poehler on the latest episode of her "Good Hang" podcast, and the two actors discussed the adjustments they've made since reaching their 50s.

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"I don't love that, at this age, the age of [having] wellness and consciousness, is so upon us, yet our bodies fail us," Elba said.

Poehler joked that simply getting out bed can be a challenge at their age (Poehler is 53), and Elba noted that so much of how the world works now stemmed from the work their generation did when they were younger.

"Some of the coolest things — art, music, culture, some of the craziest world politics that set the dynamics for where we are right now — all happened when our emotions were blossoming, and our adolescence was growing," the actor noted.

Elba also noted that his influences and motivations have changed with age, saying that he's not as easily persuaded or motivated to do certain things as he's gotten older.

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"I think in my 30s and 40s, I was blowing with the wind a little bit with what was influencing me, what my goals were," he noted.

"And in the 50s, I'm like, 'Nah. That wind has to pass around me.' I'm not getting as easily influenced."

Elba said that he wants to continue to learn as he gets older - especially about things that he can relate to his current areas of expertise.

"It's about, 'Oh, that's new, but how is it connected to what I already know?' That cusp is really interesting to me," he said.

"We talk about AI and all that stuff. I refer to it as like, 'Wow. That's the future that we talked about as kids that was just in our imaginations, and here it is.'"

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Elba has managed to maintain his youthful sense of wonder and excitement through his career as an actor, and he's also launched successful ventures in the music industry as a DJ and rapper.

We'll see what the next few years hold for Elba, but if they're as exciting as what he did for the last 20, there's plenty of room for interest.

Idris Elba Makes Candid Admission About Aging Into His 50s first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 1, 2025