How The Wire Star Idris Elba Really Feels About Stringer Bell's Legacy

You can call Stringer Bell many things. As one of the lead characters on HBO's seminal crime drama "The Wire," he showed his intelligence by attempting to apply Economics 101 philosophies to transform the dangerous Barksdale drug-dealing operation into a respectable business. He's cold and calculating, willing to do whatever it takes to improve the bottom line. He's also suave and charismatic, the kind of cool-headed general you want running your business.

Just don't call him a role model — at least not when talking with Idris Elba, who played Bell for three seasons until he (spoiler alert for a 20 year old episode of television) was unceremoniously gunned down by enemies his ruthlessness had cultivated over the years. In the decades since the curtain fell on "The Wire," Elba has had a lot of time to reflect on his character's legacy. "At the time, it was a small role in a TV show," he explained on "Unfiltered with James O'Brien." "It was a massive opportunity for A: Me to come out of poverty and B: Be seen on an HBO show."

But despite the honor of being a part of the series, Elba still has reservations about how the character has been idolized, a situation inspired in large part by his iconic performance. "We celebrate him because he's a drug dealer, and we can put him in a box," the actor said. "Is it okay to pump a community full of heroin, but because you're smart at it, that makes you cool?"

So, if Bell had applied his natural business sense to work outside the drug trade, would the character be held up like some kind of role model? "I doubt it," Elba said. "The irony of it used to just make me laugh."

According to Idris Elba, the part was "really designed to be a smaller role next to [Wood Harris' Avon Barksdale.]" It was only when Stringer Bell started to make an impact on "The Wire's" story and audience that the character became a bigger and bigger part of the show, and his iconography, like his put-together clothes and cadence of speech, became fully formed. For a series defined by its sprawling ensemble, Stringer Bell became one of its centerpieces.

Season 3 follows Bell as he tries to transform the wealth he's amassed from the drug trade into a new business development that could be his vehicle to leave the streets behind for good — until the duo of Omar Little and Brother Mouzone gun him down. Getting killed off at the height of your character's power can be a tough pill for any actor to swallow, but Elba knows it was the only realistic end for Bell. "I think it was a very brave move," Elba told O'Brien, "because the truth of the matter is, most drug dealers go to jail at some point in their lives. They get caught, no matter how successful they are... The harsh reality is that you either get shot or you go to jail."

When Bell is confronted by Omar and Mouzone with his back against the wall, he tries to talk his way out of the death trap. "I ain't involved in that gangster b******* no more," he says in one last desperate attempt to escape the drug game. There's more to life than wealth and power, a lesson Stringer Bell learned too late.