'I was running with cats... pushing bags of weed': Idris Elba opens up about his destitute past as a New York drug dealer

He made a name for himself playing notorious drug runner Russell ‘Stringer’ Bell in The Wire.

But while that role proved to be the launch-pad for what has become a hugely successful career, Idris Elba says his life prior to finding fame was akin to those lived out on Bell’s grimy inner-city playground.

In an interview with the October issue of GQ the 41-year-old actor opens up about his shady past as a drug dealer, brought about following a move from his native London to New York more than twenty years ago. 

Reasons to be cheerful: Idris Elba is one of Britain's most successful actors, but he admits to having a murky past

‘I was running with cats,’ he said. ‘I mean, I was DJ’ing, but I was also pushing bags of weed; I was doing my work. I had to. I know that sounds corny, but this is the

truth.’

Before gaining a reputation as one of Britain’s finest actors courtesy of his prominent role in the HBO show Elba was relying on the charity of friends after a short lived marriage fell apart – even sleeping in the back of his van when he had nowhere else to go.

He recalled: ‘The apartment we had together was in Jersey City, so when I left, I was sofa-hopping here and there and got to a place where I was parking it in jersey somewhere and just camping down for the night.’

Elba was still living in that van when he auditioned for The Wire – initially for the role of cold-blooded crack dealer Avon Barksdale. 

Game-changing: Idris Elba launched his career playing Russell 'Stringer' Bell in The Wire

Award winner: Elba's career has gone from strength to strength

Opening up: Idris Elba talks about his difficult past in the October issue of GQ

The show would turn the actor into a regular fixture on US TV during its five-season run, with word-of-mouth, box-sets and repeats eventually working the same magic for him in the UK.

Elba is now poised to win his first Oscar at next year’s Academy Awards thanks to his role talismanic South African leader Nelson Mandela in forthcoming biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.

Despite that success, he remains adamant that it was the authenticity of the show, rather than his ability to bring Stringer Bell to life, that launched his career.

‘That really is more about the writing of The Wire than it is the performance,’ he said. ‘You know, Stringer Bell is a great character that was written. I happened to play him, but it could’ve been anyone playing that role.

‘Listen, I think I brought Stringer to life my way, but The Wire isn’t a classic because of Stringer Bell. The Sopranos was a classic because of Tony Soprano.’

Elba – a father to daughter Isan, who lives in Atlanta - also opened up about  his embarrassment upon discovering a Florida woman he thought was expecting his child was actually carrying another man’s baby.

‘You know, the truth is – like, even admitting it, I’ll probably get laughed at for the rest of my life,’ he said. ‘But I wasn’t knocked out. I stood right the f**k back up, and I ain’t aiming to take another punch in the face ever again.

‘Do you understand what I’m saying? It happened to me. I moved on.’

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is released on November 29.

Forthcoming: The actor will star with Naomie Harris in forthcoming biopic Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom