Idris Elba open casting ‘shut down’

It looks like there are a lot of Idris Elba fans living in London. 

An open casting call for extras for his forthcoming movie had to be cancelled this week when hundreds of people flooded the streets causing a chaos. The actor and filmmaker has suggested online submissions as an alternative.

When producers called for an open casting for 'paid extras' for a forthcoming movie directed by Idris Elba, they had no idea of quite the pandemonium that would be caused when hundreds of hopefuls flocked to Whitmore Community Centre, many of them pushing and screaming to get in. 

The auditions were due to be held at the Hackney venue between 4pm and 9pm, but had to be cancelled at around 6pm when police officers struggled to control the crowd. 

'Officers attended the location and spoke with staff', a spokesperson told the BBC. 'The planned event - an audition - has been cancelled by the organisers following discussion with police.'

Indeed, witnesses posted plenty of videos to show just how much disorder the event had descended into, but thankfully it didn't appear there was any difficulty in dispersing the crowd when it was revealed that the casting was cancelled.

The auditions were for a new movie 'set in the Afro-Caribbean community in Hackney, 1983', but following the commotion, Idris Elba released his own statement. 

'The response for the open casting has been unbelievable. Thank you so much for sharing the info and for coming down', he said in a video on Instagram. 

'We've only got until nine o'clock and already I'm asked to shut it down because of the numbers.' 

He went on to tell hopefuls to send in headshots online instead of queuing, informing fans that it was very likely they wouldn't be seen. 

He also suggested that their submissions would be considered for other films if they were not successful for Idris'.