Arguments for:
- Every single f-cking one you can think of.
- Molly’s Game will be in limited release at Christmas and will open wide in January. That’s an award season schedule. Most of that awards attention will be on Jessica Chastain but as Sarah wrote in her review of the film, Jessica and Idris’s chemistry is amazing. And there are a few people who think he has a chance at a Best Supporting Actor nomination. If Idris is named Sexiest Man Alive, it’ll be good momentum for the film and a solid kickstart to his campaign.
- Dark Tower and The Mountain Between Us did not do well critically or commercially. That said… it doesn’t seem to have hurt him. That speaks to his durability.
- Idris Elba is COOL. Women find him impossibly charming, men totally understand why he’s a badass.
- He would play. If PEOPLE presented him with the opportunity, he’d be game for it. And it wouldn’t hurt his credibility.
Arguments against:
- He’s not American. The SMA has been non-American before but, well, you know, part of the PEOPLE Magazine demo might consider it a double problem that Idris is not only not American but also not white.
- He’s terrific in Molly’s Game but it’s still not his movie. And I’m not sure, as much as I love Idris, that he’s established yet as a slamdunk leading man movie star.
- He won’t want to talk, again, about James Bond. And PEOPLE would probably mention that.
Look. It should be Idris. I can’t come up with anymore arguments against. That said, since I’m not making the decision, I don’t think it will be. Because there’s someone that PEOPLE would probably find more appealing to their audience.
Odds: 5 to 1
