Idris Elba Says He’s Never Truly Been ‘in the Race’ to Play James Bond Despite Years-Long Rumors (Exclusive)

Idris Elba exclusively told PEOPLE he was never actually “in the race” to play James Bond despite years of fan speculation

NEED TO KNOW

• The actor previously admitted he was honored by the Bond rumors, but he said the conversation became “disgusting and off-putting” once it became centered on race

• Elba also opened up about starring in Masters of the Universe, revealing he’s a longtime fan of the franchise 

Idris Elbaclaims he has never been in seriouscontention to play James Bonddespite years of speculation from the Hollywood rumor mill.

Elba, 53, caught up with PEOPLE exclusively at the premiere of his new movie,Masters of the Universe,in Los Angeles on Monday, May 18. During the conversation, PEOPLE asked the actor how he felt about his name being “thrown out” as a potential star of theupcoming 007 reboot.

“My name's not getting thrown out, no way,” Elba replied. “They're going younger. And I wish them all the luck of the world. I can't wait — it's going to be amazing.”

“I'm honestly not in the race ever. I wasn't in the race in the first place,” he added.

TheLutherstar previously opened up about the topic in 2023 while appearing on theSmartlesspodcast, hosted byWill Arnett,Jason Bateman, andSean Hayes.

At the time, Elba admitted he was "super complimented" over the rumors that he could stepinto Bond's shoes, but he also said he was put off by the experience when the conversation became about race.

“We’re all actors and we understand that that role is one of those sort of coveted types. It’s like being namedSexiest Man [Alive]," he said, referring to the PEOPLE title, which he wasawarded in 2018.

"But being asked to be James Bond was like, 'Okay, you've sort of reached the pinnacle,' " Elba continued.

"Essentially, it was a huge compliment that every corner of the world — except for some corners, which we will not talk about — were really happy aboutthe idea that I could be considered," he added. "Those that weren't happy about the idea made the whole thing disgusting and off-putting, because it became about race. It became about nonsense, and I got the brunt of it."

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Bond was last played byDaniel Craigin 2021'sNo Time To Die.Others whohave played 007includeSean Connery, David Niven,George Lazenby,Roger Moore,Timothy DaltonandPierce Brosnan.

Elba's name entered the mix long before Craig's final bow as Bond, when Sony Pictures executive Amy Pascal revealed in a leaked 2014 email that shefelt "Idris should be the next Bond."

Bond aside, Elba is currently busy promoting his latest project,Masters of the Universe, a fantasy-action franchise centered around the hero He-Man.

While speaking to PEOPLE at the L.A. premiere, Elba — who plays Duncan, one of He-Man’s closest allies, in the film — revealed that he has been a lifelong fan of the franchise.

“Masters of the Universewas my thing,” he said. “It was something that I watched a lot as a kid.”

“To get to play Duncan and change him —  make him to look like me — was a real treat. I got to be a bit comedic and big, so I went for it,” Elba added.

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“I've done quite a few action films over the last three years,” he continued. “Some a little bit more cerebral action, likeHijack, but this has been a lot of fighting. I have to stay in shape so I can run and punch.”

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byAnio Baumeister

in

May 23, 2026

Idris Elba Says He’s Never Truly Been ‘in the Race’ to Play James Bond Despite Years-Long Rumors (Exclusive)

Idris Elba exclusively told PEOPLE he was never actually “in the race” to play James Bond despite years of fan speculation NEED T...

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Police Say an Unusual Piece of Evidence Was Instrumental in Finding 22-Year-Old Influencer Beauty Couch’s Alleged Killer

Police revealed that an unusual piece of evidence was key to tracking down the alleged killer of influencer Beauty Couch

NEED TO KNOW

• In August 2023, the 22-year-old content creator was found near her burning car in Austell, Ga.; her boyfriend, Eugene Tobi Louis Jacques, was arrested two days later

• Jacques, who faces murder charges in connection with Couch's death, is now on trial

Police have revealed that an unusual piece of evidence was key to tracking down the alleged killer of influencer Beauty Couch.

In August 2023, the 22-year-old content creator was found near her burning car in Austell, Ga., in the Atlanta area; her boyfriend, Eugene Tobi Louis Jacques, was arrested two days later. He faces six charges, including murder, arson and aggravated assault, in connection with Couch's death, perWALB News 10.

According to the outlet, his lawyer claimed in court that there is no evidence linking Jacques to the killing, when his trial first began on Tuesday, May 19.

On Thursday, May 21, an investigator with the Cobb County Police Department testified that police found a traffic ticket at the scene of the crime, mere feet away from Couch's dead body, which belonged to Jacques and included the license plate number for his vehicle,Atlanta News Firstreported.

Police then tracked Jacques's vehicle to a parish in Louisiana, where he was pulled over and arrested two days later, the outlet reported.

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During the trial, police also played previously unseen body camera footage of Jacques's arrest. In the clip, he can be heard allegedly giving authorities a fake name, Mykael Waters, per Atlanta News First. Detectives also testified that they found a Boost Mobile phone receipt and a completed job application for a Louisiana golf course, both under the alias, in his car.

Per WALB News 10, Jacques's attorney, Bryan Lumpkin, argued in court that there was no DNA evidence linking him to his late girlfriend's death. “Do they actually have evidence of Eugene at the location where that body was found?” Lumpkin said. “He's in the area. He's in Austell. No doubt. He was there a lot because he went over to see Beauty all the time.”

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Couch, who used the name Beauty Katera onInstagram, maintained a following of over 150,000, describing herself in her profile as a dancer. She often shared roller skating videos and advertised her first dance class less than a month before her death.

“She was a friend to everybody," Kimberly Couch, the internet personality's mother, said in an August 2023 interview withWSB-TV. "She loved going skating. She loved going to work. She loved her clothes. She loved wearing her hair so pretty.”

Read the original article onPeople

byAnio Baumeister

in

May 22, 2026

Police Say an Unusual Piece of Evidence Was Instrumental in Finding 22-Year-Old Influencer Beauty Couch’s Alleged Killer

Police revealed that an unusual piece of evidence was key to tracking down the alleged killer of influencer Beauty Couch NEED TO ...

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Social Media Star Laura Clery Says Her ‘Worst Nightmare’ Came True After She Was ‘Almost Killed’ by Falling 600-Lb. Fridge

Laura Clery is reflecting on the scary moment her kitchen fridge unexpectedly fell on top of her

NEED TO KNOW

• In a social media post, she revealed that her son was attempting to climb on the appliance, pulling it out accidentally as he did so

• "When I tried to push it back, it fell on me and was fully crushing me," Clery shared online

Laura Cleryis calling the moment her 600-lb. fridge fell on her the "most terrifying night of my life as a single mom."In a series of posts across her social media platforms and her Patreon, the social media star and comedian, 39, revealed that her 7-year-old son, Alfie, was attempting to climb on her fridge when she noticed it "shift slightly" in a way that made her "stomach drop." After running to push it back in place, the appliance suddenly came crashing down on her."The full weight of it slammed me backward into the kitchen island, pinning my lower back and hips," she wrote on herPatreon. "I couldn't move. I tried to push it off and it didn't even slightly budge. It felt like pushing against a building."Clery said she quickly realized that the situation was worse than she expected. "Like, not 'This will be a funny story later' bad. This is 'I might genuinely be in danger right now' bad," she described, adding that her breathing started to "go."

"I could feel it getting harder to inhale, like my body was just slowly deciding to shut down," she said, sharing that her younger daughter Poppy, 5, started to cry.

In a post to herFacebookaccount, Clery shared a photo of herself wearing a neck brace in the ambulance while receiving oxygen. "I want to f#%king sue the contractors who installed this fridge," she wrote to her 14 million followers.

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"This is a nearly 600 pound stainless steel French door fridge that was NOT properly mounted into the wall. Because of that, my 7 year old was able to pull it forward, and when I tried to push it back, it fell on me and was fully crushing me. It nearly killed me. And it could have absolutely killed my child. This should never have been possible. This was negligence," she shared.In another post on Instagram, Clery shared a video of herself being wheeled into an ambulance as she spoke with paramedics. She called the incident the "most terrifying night of my life as a single mom."

"My kids were in the house. I genuinely didn't know if I was getting out of that alive," she wrote. "Thank God my phone was in my pocket and I was able to call 911. Thank god it didn't fall on my kids. It took three firefighters to lift it off me. I'm still shaking."Stephen Hilton, Clery's ex-husband also weighed in on the scary moment, writing on his Facebook account about the incident, "She literally thought she was dying. Still feeling devastated . Go straight to JAIL, whoever is responsible for this …."

Across social media, Clery boasts nearly 25 million followers. She gained prominence through her comedic sketches and characters on platforms like Facebook and YouTube, and documents her life as a single mom. She also talks openly about Alfie's autism diagnosis, and how she has learned to manage it as a single parent.

Read the original article onPeople

byAnio Baumeister

in

May 22, 2026

Social Media Star Laura Clery Says Her ‘Worst Nightmare’ Came True After She Was ‘Almost Killed’ by Falling 600-Lb. Fridge

Laura Clery is reflecting on the scary moment her kitchen fridge unexpectedly fell on top of her NEED TO KNOW In a...

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Trump says he'll 'try and make' son's wedding but it's 'not good timing'

President Donald Trump said his oldest son'supcoming weddingwill be an intimate affair, and as the father of the groom he will try to attend, but it's "not good timing" amid the Iran war.

Trump seemed to confirmreportsthat his son,Donald Trump Jr., is getting married over the weekend. Asked by a reporter during a May 21 Oval Office event whether he'll attend "Your son's wedding this weekend," the president's response indicated his presence isn't a sure thing.

"He'd like me to go," Trump said of his son. "But it's going to be just a small, private affair and I'm going to try and make it. I'm in the midst, I said: 'You know this is not good timing for me, I have a thing called Iran and other things.'"

"That's one I can't win on," Trump added. "If I do attend, I get killed. If I don't attend I get killed, by the fake news of course I'm talking about."

Trump Jr., 48, announced in December during a White House holiday party that he is engaged to socialiteBettina Anderson, 37. The pair began appearing in public together a year earlier. Anderson had a bridal shower at Mar-a-Lago, the president's Palm Beach estate, last month.

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Page Six reportedthat Trump Jr. and Anderson will be married on a private island in the Bahamas over the weekend. It would be Trump Jr.'s second marriage. He has five kids, includinggolfer Kai Trump, with former model Vanessa Trump. Their marriage ended in 2018.

The president said he has known Anderson "for a long time."

"Hopefully they're going to have a great marriage," he added.

Contributing:Mary Walrath-Holdridge,Kinsey Crowley

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Donald Trump says he'll 'try and make' son Don Jr.'s wedding

byAnio Baumeister

in

May 21, 2026

Trump says he'll 'try and make' son's wedding but it's 'not good timing'

President Donald Trump said his oldest son'supcoming weddingwill be an intimate affair, and as the father of the groom he will try ...

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Frankie Muniz Reflects on 'Sad Times' During Rollercoaster Year

Frankie Muniz is reflecting on the highs and lows of 2026

NEED TO KNOW

• In a post shared to Instagram, the actor said the year has so far been full of "ups and downs"

• The actor famously played Malcolm in Malcolm in the Middle from 2000 to 2006 and again more recently in the series revival

Frankie Munizis reflecting on a year full of "ups and downs."

In a post shared toInstagram, the 40-year-old actor could be seen in a black and white photo, which he caption, "What a year so far... So many ups and downs, happy and sad times, crazy fun days and super stressful ones too ...I guess I'm truly living, experiencing it all."

Muniz rose to fame as a child star, taking on the role of Malcolm on the hit tv showMalcolm in the Middlefrom 2000 to 2006 and again more recently in the series revival. He also starred in films such asBig Fat Liar(2002) andAgent Cody Banks(2003).

Prior to theMalcolmreboot, Munizstepped away from acting to focus on NASCAR racing.

Over the past year, the actor and driver has had a notable number of ups and downs, as his post suggests.

In August 2025, he suffered a fall at his home (which took place as he was changing the batteries of a Ring camera) and sustained a wrist fracture that caused him to take a seven-week break from racing as he recovered.

Speaking to PEOPLE in aninterview given on his 40th birthdayin December, the actor acknowledged racing is "not a young man's sport," adding, "There's so much that happens in racing that's out of your control and we had a lot of things happen this year that were out of our control, where it felt like it was the universe telling me like, 'Maybe it's not for you.' "

"The highs of racing are so high, but the lows of racing are really low so I went through a weird period emotionally throughout the season," he added.

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But among the highs of the year were Muniz's reprisal of the titular role inMalcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair, which he told PEOPLE in an earlier interview, "felt like home."

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Muniz spoke exclusively to PEOPLE at the New York City premiere of the reboot in April, which he attended with his wife Paige Muniz and their son.

"I know it kind of sounds cliché to say, but what you think is important in life, the things that you really focus on, to me, until you have a kid...so many people say that. 'You have no idea.' Even being on set and my son being there, I want to make him proud," he toldPEOPLEat the time.

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Muniz married his wife in an official ceremony in 2020, though the couple exchanged vows in a small, private ceremony on Oct. 3, 2019.

They welcomed their son Mauz Mosley Muniz on March 22, 2021, with the baby weighing in at “exactly 7lbs,” according to Paige'sInstagram postannouncing his birth.

Read the original article onPeople

byAnio Baumeister

in

May 21, 2026

Frankie Muniz Reflects on 'Sad Times' During Rollercoaster Year

Frankie Muniz is reflecting on the highs and lows of 2026 NEED TO KNOW In a post shared to Instagram, the actor sa...

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