Donnell Rawlings has opened up about the hilarious reason that he didn’t like working with Idris Elba on The Wire.
Back when the show was running, Rawlings was Damien “Day Day” Price and Elba was Stringer Bell. Though they didn’t share the screen together, both characters were integral to the show’s plot. As much as the two actors had to be around each other, Rawlings revealed on a recent episode of Club Shay Shay that he didn’t like working with Elba — and his reason is entirely not Elba’s fault.
“He had fans everywhere,” said Rawlings to Shannon Sharpe. “They had these women called the Stringer Bellettes. I would meet girls and they’d be like, are you on The Wire? Could you introduce us to Stringer Bell?”
While Sharpe laughed at Rawlings’ explanation, the comedian continued to explain how he reacted to the death of Elba's character back then. “When they killed him, I was like, ‘Where your man at now?” he added. “He took all the damn girls. I’m still traumatized. He’d double down with that punk-ass English accent.”
Rawlings then gave Elba his flowers, expressing that the 52-year-old British actor was “one of the most humble guys.”
Sharpe later brought up the fact that foreign actors like Elba and Damson Idris (who played the main character in Snowfall) were able to be cast in gangster roles in the United States, despite the fact that they weren’t from the country. Rawlings expressed it’s because of the actors’ dedication.
“They’re students of the craft,” relayed Rawlings. “All those guys have to get dialect coaches.”
Rawlings might not be the only person complaining about Elba's charmingly good looks soon. Ludacris revealed on The Jennifer Hudson Show last year that he’d like to have Elba appear in the sequel to Fast X that’s scheduled to come out next year.
"I would love Idris Elba in the final movie," said Ludacris. "Matt Damon would be dope man...Denzel Washington. Let's get Denzel Washington in the franchise. I would love that. I'm just throwing around names."