Wait…Is Idris Elba About to Retire From Acting for Good??

If there’s one actor who’s captured the hearts of millions of women over the course of his career, it’s Idris Elba. Whether he’s solving crimes and looking sexy in “Luther” or being the charming prodigal son in “This Christmas,” Elba has been a beloved leading man time and time again.

But, in a new interview he gave at the Red Sea International Film Festival, Elba revealed that his time in front of our screens may be coming to an end sooner than we’d like. Speaking during a Q&A to promote his new short film “Dust To Dreams,” which he also directed, Elba revealed that his time as an actor is winding down because he has other industry aspirations.

“I’m hoping that my fan base as an actor isn’t mad at me,” he said, per the Daily Mail. “Eventually I want to transfer to be a director fully.”

He continued: “I love it still, but I think directing allows me to flex slightly different muscles and just be a part of the set in a different way. I really enjoy it,” 

IDRIS — and we can’t stress this enough — NO! What do you mean, you want to be “a director fully?” What are we supposed to do now that you’re not on our screens? What are we supposed to tell our moms and aunties? How are you going to keep up your status as the internet’s boyfriend if we can’t give you googly-eyes while watching you in our favorite films? This is such a blow.

First Denzel Washington teased retiring, now you? Say it ain’t so, Idris, say “sike” right now!

And what’s more is that “The Harder They Fall” star went on to even share his other interests in the political sphere, though he stopped just short at saying he wanted to a politician.

“I think there’s something quite appealing about educating myself to step into those arenas with more experience of how to make change,” Elba explained. “As an actor, you get offered these incredible opportunities to sit on a stage or meet a head of state. I often feel like I am just living off my instinct rather than my knowledge.”

He went on to say that that there’s “a possibility” that he might go to school to “study human science, not political science,” so that he can be more effective in his philanthropic endeavors, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

For now, I’d suggest we savor the next handful of projects he has coming out like season two of “Hijack” and the next installment of “Luther” because we don’t know when he’ll decide to make his transition to being solely behind the camera!