Here are some photos of Idris Elba at the 25th Anniversary Palm Springs International Film Festival event on Saturday night. Some photos are from the red carpet, and two pics are from Idris’s Twitter, where he’s in the back of a limo, it looks like. Idris got all dressed up in an elegant tuxedo for the event. And he tweeted this: “My Bow makes my d–k hard every time I smile…is that normal?” OH MY GOD. Try to look at photos of Idris Elba in a tuxedo the same way ever again. Just try. He posted another photo later in the evening with the message, “Had fun…releasing the beast..:) (jokes)”. Bless his heart. And his bow. And other parts.

Idris has been promoting Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom over the holidays. I feel like he really does want an Oscar nomination, and he’s playing the game rather well. Since the Oscar buzz for Michael B. Jordan has all but disappeared at this point, I think there’s a good chance that the Best Actor category at the Oscars this year will feature TWO actors of color, Idris and Chiwetel Ejiofor. I feel like Chiwetel is definitely getting a nom, Idris is iffier. Anyway, when Idris was promoting Long Walk, he ended up talking about the James Bond rumors once again.

Some of the Internet really wants Idris Elba to play James Bond. Sadly, the “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” actor says those people will just have to sit down.

“It’s a rumor that’s gotten out of control, basically — but that’s all it is,” Elba said on ITV’s “Lorraine.” “There’s no truth in it whatsoever.”

Elba, who was recently feted with Golden Globe nominations for his performances in “Mandela” and the BBC series “Luther,” has seen his name tossed around in close ties to the next James Bond movie for months. Some were convinced Elba was perfect for the role, even as he expressed surprise at the consideration.

“Really? James Bond? I didn’t know that was still sort of in the mix,” Elba told HuffPost Entertainment when asked in November. “I say it all the time, but if it was to ever happen and if I was ever to get offered that role, that would be the will of a nation. That would be like, ‘Wow, human beings are really powerful. They really made that happen, because [producer Barbara Broccoli] certainly didn’t.” … It would be the will of a nation because everyone has been saying that to me.”

If he seemed a little wishy-washy on the topic when asked previously, he was definitive about it this time. During his appearance on “Lorraine,” the actor also expressed chagrin at the use of the term “black Bond.”

“We don’t say ‘white Bond,’ we just say ‘Bond.’ So it suddenly becomes a black man and he’s a ‘black Bond.’ So I hate that phrase.”

[From HuffPo]

I think I’ve been guilty of saying “Black Bond” in the past, and I will never do it again, okay, Idris? To be fair, though, I remember when the press made a big deal about Blonde Bond when Daniel Craig first signed on to the role. I think people just like alliteration, it’s not ALWAYS a racial thing. Anyway, the way Idris talks about it, it feels like he’s actually spoken to Bond producers and they’ve told him he’s not up for the part under any circumstances. It seems like he’s trying to shut down the speculation completely. But… you know which actor of color has also been getting Bond rumors? Chiwetel Ejiofor. Seriously! He would be a very suave James Bond.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Idris’s Twitter.