Idris Elba unveils Mobo paving stone at college where he ‘got to dream bigger'

Wales Online

17-06-2025

Idris Elba unveils Mobo paving stone at college where he 'got to dream bigger'
On Friday, Elba, 52, who hails from Hackney, and is most known for his acting roles in BBC drama Luther and US crime series The Wire, returned to Barking and Dagenham College, which he attended as a young person.
Actor Idris Elba has unveiled a commemorative stone from Mobo at a London college that helped him "dream bigger" as a student.
On Friday, Elba, 52, who hails from Hackney, and is most known for his acting roles in BBC drama Luther and US crime series The Wire, returned to Barking and Dagenham College, which he attended as a young person.
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His stone forms part of the Paving The Way award, issued by the Mobo organisation, which supports talent in music, film and TV and holds an annual awards ceremony celebrating excellence in black music and culture.
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The award celebrates cultural pioneers who have made a lasting impact in the arts, with Olympian Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill and comedian Sir Lenny Henry among the recipients.
The award winners are asked to choose a location for the stone that holds a deep personal meaning, with Elba choosing the college where he studied performing arts.
The event, which included a Q&A with the students, took place inside the college's Idris Elba Studio - a professional film and TV facility named in his honour.
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Asked by a student if he had ever imagined how successful he would become, Elba said: "I mean, yes, I think to be here in the first place, you're already imagining what the future can be.
"And so I was always thinking about what success might look like.
"I didn't know how to get there, but I could see it. I could see it on the silver screen. I could see it in my idols, Eddie Murphy, I saw it everywhere.
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"But the truth is, what kept me grounded, what kept me focused (as a student) is being in a facility where I get to fall down, get up, fall down, as many times as I want, and I literally found this place, we all did, as a haven, a safe space to actually, not only imagine yourself being a movie star, but try it and fail, and try it, and fail.
"The thing about dreaming is that it happens on a 24-hour cycle.
"So every day I got to come back here, I got to dream bigger. I got to, definitely learn and sharpen how I was going to get there, and that's really important."
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Elba unveiled the stone alongside Mobo Awards founder and chief executive Kanya King.
It reads: "Mobo. Paving the way for the next generation. Idris Elba. 'Don't get labelled, labels are for cans'."
Alongside his acting career the film and TV star performs as a DJ and has campaigned against knife crime.