Idris Elba, who James Bond fans are campaigning to be the next person to play 007, was named the sexiest man alive on Monday by People magazine.
The London-born actor, 46, said he didn’t believe it when the magazine told him.
“I was like, ‘Come on, no way. Really?'” Elba told the celebrity publication. “Looked in the mirror, I checked myself out. I was like, ‘Yeah, you are kind of sexy today.’ But to be honest, it was just a nice feeling. It was a nice surprise – an ego boost for sure.”
Elba is People’s 33rd Sexiest Man Alive, joining a long list of Hollywood’s hottest, starting with a then-29-year-old Mel Gibson in 1985 to last year’s pick Blake Shelton.
Though he was an athlete at his all-boys school in London, playing first-string football, basketball, cricket, hockey and rugby, the actor insists he went through an awkward phase first. “I was very tall and skinny,” says the 6’3″ Elba. “And my name was Idrissa Akuna Elba, okay? I got picked on a little bit. But again, as soon as I could grow a mustache, I was the coolest kid on the block. Grew a mustache, had some muscles, bonkers.”
Well done People magazine, well done.
