Filling or wearing the shoes of the colossal Madiba could be a very big task. Anyone desirous may have to test his strength and resolve in the tough apartheid era of the South African country. That must include series of authority enforcement and arrests, police beatings and threats; it will also involve twenty-seven full years in incarcerations. That is daunting!I bet no new political personality of this generation can willfully go through all these without chickening out. On the contrary, many great actors had taken out these roles and received the best of accolades and honors. Check the list; it is awesome: David Harewood, “Mrs. Mandela” (2011); Terrence Howard, “Winnie Mandela” (2011); Morgan Freeman, “Invictus” (2009); Clarke Peters, “Endgame” (2009); Dennis Haysbert, “Goodbye Bafana” (2007); South African Lindane Nkosi, “Drum” (2004); Sidney Poitier, “Mandela and de Klerk” (1997); and Danny Glover, “Mandela” (1987).
Acting Nelson Mandela has become an honor for many black actors; both in motherland Africa and in the Diaspora. The latter have had more opportunities, obviously, than the former, simple enumeration of the numbers reveals this. The role has also become more of James Bond 007 of Africa, which also boasts of a sizable number of great actors who had taken it out.Here comes the newest Mandela: IDRIS ELBA. He is the newest kid (sorry, man) on the block. He played the lead role in the latest movie on the enigmatic and iconic former South African President. The film, “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”, had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2013. It was released on 28 November 2013 in South Africa and on 3 January 2014 in the United Kingdom, a week before and a month after Mandela died respectively. Long Walk to Freedom premiered in London on 5 December 2013 as a Royal Film Performance, Prince William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were in attendance, along with Mandela’s daughters Zindzi and Zenani. The announcement of the death of Nelson Mandela occurred while the film was being screened.Idrissa Akuna “Idris” Elba was born on the 6th of September 1972 to a Sierra Leonean father, Winston and Ghanaian mother, Eve, in Hackney, London. His parents married in Sierra Leone and later moved to London. He had starred in a lot of films, movies and television shows and series. Roles that had brought out the best of him and made him popular include his portrayal of drug lord and aspiring businessman Russell “Stringer” Bell in the HBO series The Wire, Detective John Luther in the BBC One series Luther. Three Golden Globe Awards’ nominations for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film are in his kitty, but he has won just one for Best Actor. There are also three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Apart from acting, Elba is also a producer, a singer, a rapper and a DJ.
So all hail the newest Nelson Mandela! Although, the movie produced, by Justin Chadwick, received mixed criticism, Elba, nonetheless, got thumbs up for reenacting the great man. Without doubts, it will enhance his acting career immensely
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