Bravo Denzil!

While I only know Idris Elba from his short run as Charles Miner on The Office I am aware that most people know him as a hard-af gangster on The Wire, so I'm surprised as anybody to learn that his inspiration for becoming an actor was the affable, lovable Denzil from Only Fools and Horses:

“When I was maybe 14, 15, I was in school and I was in my drama class — I loved drama class, it was a place of expression, I enjoyed the creative freedom — and this professional actor came in. His name was Paul Barber. He came in and sat amongst us.

“We recognised him from TV and it was a big moment. I come from east London, it was a poor little neighbourhood and this big actor was in our midst. You could touch him. He was right there. He just basically sat in our class and talked to us about his profession and who he was. I just remember thinking, ‘Wow, man.’ He didn’t know it, but he really inspired me to become an actor.

Sigh. Poor, sweet, naive Denzil, who never met a terrible deal from Del By he couldn't get suckered into...