Luther star Idris Elba may have found a new career in kickboxing. In a video posted by Madonna, who was cheering from the ringside, Idris made an impressive debut at York Hall in Bernthal Green by winning via knockout in less than two minutes.
But how did the actor get involved in this so suddenly? Apparently, Idris is working on a three-part documentary titled Idris Elba: Fighter for the Discovery Channel and this might be one of the scenes. He even trained for months with former champion boxer Nigel Benn, so you can tell that he was dead serious about this project. I mean, there’s no way those punches and blows in Madonna’s video were staged―Idris even said so.
“It has been my dream to fight in a ring properly,” he tells the Daily Telegraph Australia. “It is not fake, I might get hurt but ultimately I have trained for it and I like to fight. I’ve busted my nose a couple of times but hopefully it doesn’t show. Keeping fit is important to me as part of my work and I always used to train back in the day as just a kickboxer before I was acting and now I am on this massive journey.”
Meanwhile, the question on everyone’s minds: Why is Madonna there? There are rumors that Idris and the Queen of Pop may be dating. However, Idris firmly denied this via Twitter. Maybe she was just there as a supportive friend.
Anyway, if you’re interested in seeing Idris’ badass kickboxing, we’ll have to wait for the documentary’s premiere next year.
[Evening Standard]
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