Idris Elba got “kicked out” of Robert De Niro’s office after “scamming” his way in to land an audition.
The 51-year-old “Luther” star was an aspiring teenage actor in the early 1990s when he decided to attempt to land a try-out for De Niro’s 1993 crime movie A Bronx Tale by bluffing his way into the actor’s office in New York, but Elba was soon found out and was removed from the building without landing the coveted audition spot.
“When I was just starting out in this business, I was 19 years old. I scammed my way up to Robert De Niro’s office in Tribeca. Auditions were taking place for A Bronx Tale, and they started that week. Even though I was very late and wasn’t even invited,” Elba recalled during the “I Am An Actor'”segment at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Idris explained he used his “English charm” to convince the receptionist and security guard that he had an appointment with the legendary star, who directed and starred in the movie.
“Now the woman sent me up into the elevator — do you remember when the elevators had a little key and you went in and went up? … ” he went on.
“I was like, ‘What are you going to do, when you in there what are you gonna do? Idris, come here’ … And that’s when I ended up in A Bronx Tale … No, I’m lying now. I wasn’t in A Bronx Tale.” Elba said, recalling the elevator ride and how he psyched himself up and even did his best impression of De Niro.
“I got kicked out of the office by Robert De Niro’s producing partner at the time, a gesture that I took to mean, ‘kid, you’re going to go places’ … I’m Idris Elba, and I’m an actor,” the actor concluded.
