How Idris Elba escaped gang-ridden Hackney council estate where people he grew ... trends now
Idris Elba did not have the life of luxury growing up that many Hollywood stars are now accustomed to.
Raised on a council estate in the gang-ridden borough of Hackney, the Luther star has often spoke openly about his early life where crime and poverty was prolific.
He dreamt of being an actor while working the dreaded night shift on the assembly line of a Ford factory in Dagenham for two years before getting his first big break as a gangster on hit HBO TV show The Wire.
Since then the actor has gone on to star in some of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters, including Marvel's Avengers: Inifinity War, Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw and The Suicide Squad.
And now the 51-year-old is using his self-made status to campaign to try to stop the proliferation of knife crime across Britain, an issue that he holds close to his heart.
Idris Elba (right) did not have the life of luxury growing up that most Hollywood stars are now accustomed to
He dreamt of being an actor while working the dreaded night shift on the assembly line of a Ford factory in Dagenham for two years before getting his first big break as a gangster on hit HBO TV show The Wire
Elba was born on September 6, 1972 as an olnly child to Sierra Leonean father Winston (pictured) and Ghanaian mother Eva
Elba was born on September 6, 1972 as an only child to Sierra Leonean father Winston and Ghanaian mother Eva.
During his early school years as a ten-year old, Elba was sent to Stormont House, a special school on Hackney Downs, due to his asthma.
He previously joked about how it was 'was a weird two years of my life' and despite being an 'amazing' school, it was 'full of kids with very severe disabilities, and kids who were just straight-up bad'.
The actor later went to a local comprehensive secodnary school in, Kingsland, but only stayed there for one term before his parents moved to Canning Town. He was later enrolled in the Trinity boys school in Croydon
Elba said he experienced violence as a teenager but explained it is different to the sort of crimes that people see today. He said: 'When you are an exploding teen, your emotions are going and yes I saw violence, I avoided violence.
'But I saw the type of violence that is associated to going to a boys' school and having beefs with another boys' school or another school.
'It's different tenure to what we are seeing now. Carrying a pocket knife back then is very different to carrying a zombie knife and machete.
Idris soon followed in the footsteps of his father by working on the assembly line of a Ford factory in Dagenham in the 1980s.
He told the Hollywood Reporter: 'Most people don't know this but I worked at Ford as a young guy. My dad also worked at Ford. It's practically in my blood.
'I [worked] for Ford for two years. I worked on the assembly line in Dagenham, East London. It's when I was dreaming of being an actor.
'I did the night shift — and I hated the night shift — but the reason I worked there is my dad worked there for 25 years and I wanted to follow in his footsteps.
'My dad didn't want me to be a broke actor. My dad loved his job, he brought it home with him; it was our community.'
Idris Elba attends the launch of the 2023 Rugby World Cup Defender campaign at Palais De Tokyo on September 7, 2023
Idris Elba poses on the champagne-colored red carpet during the Oscars arrivals at the 95th Academy Awards in Hollywood, in 2023
Idris Elba at the WE Day UK, Show, The SSE Arena, in Wembley, London in 2020
