If anybody knows just how life-changing one act of kindness can be, it's Idris Elba. After receiving a £1,500 grant from The Prince's Trust (now The King's Trust) as a teenager to attend the National Youth Music Theatre, the Luther star embarked on a hugely successful acting and music career.
Now one of Hollywood's biggest and most influential stars, Idris is giving back to the community and bettering the lives of others in a multitude of ways — including giving aspiring young creatives the chance to achieve their dreams and leading the fight against knife crime.
One person who has benefitted from Idris's compassion and kindness is his kickboxing coach Kieran Keddle, who trained the actor in the lead-up to his professional kickboxing match for the 2017 Discover + series, Idris Elba: Fighter, and joined him in Australia while he was filming the 2011 superhero film Thor.
"I'd just got married and he called me up and said, 'I'm going to pay for you and your kids to come out to Australia as well'," Kieran tells HELLO!. "He upgraded my stay at the hotel, which was amazing, and for my wife and two kids as well."
"He's a person of the people"
"He never forgets Christmases and birthdays," said the former three-time world Muay Thai champion. "He's a person of the people. What you see on TV and what you see in interviews that is him. I think he's one of the nicest people I've ever met."
Kieran also revealed that after his wife fell ill during their Australia trip, Idris booked her a private hospital appointment upon their return to the UK. "We were going to just take her to the hospital and Idris upgraded that to private without even telling us so she could get seen first," he explained. "He doesn't want thanks or a pat on the back. That's the type of person he is."
But it's not just small but significant acts of kindness Idris is known for. Pastor Lorraine Jones Burrell, the CEO of Brixton-based boxing gym for at-risk youth, Dwaynamics, said Idris made a huge difference in raising awareness for her business, which she founded in memory of her son Dwayne Simpson, who tragically died ten years ago after he was attacked in Brixton while he protected a younger boy.
Lorraine met Idris at a roundtable for families of knife crime victims held by Keir Starmer in June. Since then, the star has not only shone a light on Dwaynamics via shout-outs on social media and on the stage at Glastonbury this summer, but has been instrumental in the government's ban on zombie knives and machetes in the UK through his campaign, Don't Stop Your Future.
"We were like little candles and Idris came with a massive flame to raise awareness of the damage that knife crime is doing."
"I know Idris had a lot of influence with that," Lorraine tells HELLO!. "When you've got someone like Idris, who is a successful star from the black community, it's like our voices are louder, our light is brighter and it's hard to ignore us.
"We were like little candles and he came with a massive flame to raise awareness of the damage that knife crime is doing. He's very supportive."
Up-and-coming musician Romaya, 18, also knows what it means to have Idris' backing after being brought onto the stage at Glastonbury in June to perform during his DJ set.
"Glastonbury definitely changed my life as an artist," said the Trinidadian and Jamaican rapper from West London. "It put me in all the right spaces. But since then, I've been quite close with Idris' team and they've helped me along my musical journey. It's just been really good to have that support."
Romaya, who recently graduated from the BRIT school, said she's become very close with Idris and his family, describing the actor as "an uncle" to her. "He's been very instrumental in my life. He's very sweet, very kind and very loving," she said. "He has a great family. I've met his daughter [Isan, 22] and his wife [Sabrina], and I'm friends with his daughter now, and they're just amazing. He's very down to earth."