Idris Elba confirms he used to sell weed to Dave Chappelle before his Wire days

Actors tend to have many different jobs before making it big in Hollywood, and Idris Elba is no exception. During a recent visit to The Jess Cagle Show, the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 star looked back on his early days in the States, when his acting career "fell flat on its face very quickly for about four years." During that time, Elba said, "I did a lot of things, some things I'm not proud of" — though he did have some memorable clients.

Pressed by Cagle about what he wasn't proud of, Elba said, "I used to sell weed. Can I say that on the show?"

Assured that he could, he continued: "I did that for a little bit just to, you know, help pay the way. I DJ'ed quite a bit. I was a doorman. I was a doorman at Carolines comedy club [in New York], which is fascinating now, when I meet the comedians that you kind of remember the English guy. Tall English guy with the funny accent and the little hair."

One of those comedians? "David Chappelle remembers me 'cause he used to buy weed from me," Elba said. "Anyway, moving on. Yeah, I did all kinds of things to be honest, all kinds of things."

Chappelle has previously said that he "used to buy weed" from Elba, who would land his breakout role playing the savvy drug dealer Stringer Bell on HBO's The Wire a few years later. The show was a slow-burn success, but the rest is history.

"At the time, The Wire was sort of like distant cousin to The Sopranos," Elba recalled. "Season 1 was sort of like a sleeper hit. People were like, 'Have you seen this show? It's kind of interesting.' Especially in the African American community… By season 3 it was up there with The Sopranos as a show that everyone was watching. But for the rest of the world, it didn't happen for another seven to eight years."

Elba also noted that when he moved back to London in 2011, people were just discovering the series — something that has continued over the years, even though the show ended in 2008. "People continue to discover it to this day," he said.

Watch the video above for more from Elba.

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