Idris Elba has acknowledged that he enjoys playing dark characters because they are more entertaining.

In The Wire, he portrayed narcotics dealer Stringer Bell, and in Luther, he plays a detective who takes the law into his own hands. In his most recent picture, No Good Deed, he plays a killer who escapes from jail and kidnaps a woman and her children.

Idris said: “Luther’s quite dark, but he’s not this dark – this guy is all the way out there.

“I don’t think I’m that dark – I do have a bad temper, but that’s it.

“But I do think it’s fun to play that range – bad guys, bad characters always have the best lines and the craziest things to do, so that’s really exciting to play.”

The 42-year-old actor admitted that some of the violence in the film bothered him.

He said: “I did enjoy the fact it’s a quite physical role. It’s unnerving – the film’s very violent, very, very violent.

“I wasn’t too keen on it if I’m honest. It was tough, but the thrill ride of all of that physicality was good to have.”