The 50-year-old thespian disclosed this while featuring as a guest on the latest episode of the Smartless podcast co-hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Haves and Will Arnett.

He admitted that rumours about him playing the role were exciting for him.

Elba said, “The truth is, I was super complemented for a long time about this [playing the James Bond role]. I was like, ‘This is crazy! James Bond?’

“We are all actors and we understand that role. It’s one of those coveted roles. Being asked to be James Bond was like, ‘Okay, you’ve sort of reached the pinnacle.’ That is one of those things the whole world has a vote in.

“It was a huge compliment that every corner of the world, except for some corners, which we will not talk about, were really happy about the idea that I could be considered. Those that weren’t happy about the idea made the whole thing disgusting because it became about race.”