WHO WILL be the next James Bond? THis has been a question that has been on many lips over the past few years as Daniel Craig prepares to retire his tuxedo and the role of 007 is taken over by another swave actor.

On name that has consistently been in the mix has been Idris Elba. However, the actor has said that he is bothered by some of the racial references that pop up when he’s mentioned as the next Bond and finds it troubling that some people don’t think he could play a spy because he’s black.

“You just get disheartened when you get people from a generational point of view going, ‘It can’t be.’ And it really turns out to be the color of my skin,” Elba says in the August issue of Vanity Fair. “And then if I get it and it didn’t work, or it did work, would it be because of the color of my skin? That’s a difficult position to put myself into when I don’t need to.”

Elba told the magazine he’s never expressed interest in the role, but admits that if he was approached, he’d definitely say yes.

“James Bond is a hugely coveted, iconic, beloved character, that takes audiences on this massive escapism journey,” he adds. “Of course, if someone said to me ‘Do you want to play James Bond?,’ I’d be like, Yeah! That’s fascinating to me. But it’s not something I’ve expressed, like, yeah, I wanna be the black James Bond.”

The newly-married actor will next appear in Fast and Furious spin-off Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw alongside Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham.

Watch the trailer below: