Entertainment

Idris Elba's New Netflix Comedy Is Based On The Perfect Blend Of Fact & Fantasy

by Lollie King
Nick Wall / Netflix

They say life imitates art and in many cases that couldn't be more true. In Wiley's new song Boasty, Idris Elba raps "man's a big DJ ask Meghan and Harry," and it looks like this is also true for his new character Charlie in Netflix's new series Turn Up Charlie. In the trailer for the show Elba's character can be heard saying "my parents think I'm a big music mogul," but it doesn't look like that is the whole truth. The show, which was co-created by Elba, is set to be pretty big on Netflix, but will Turn Up Charlie return for season 2?

If you prefer Elba in his classic tough guy roles, like in Luther, 100 Streets, or The Wire, avert your eyes now, because with this role Elba is bringing us a fresh new comedy vibe. Turn Up Charlie doesn't quite star Elba in the role of a "big time DJ," but instead a DJ who's star has fallen and is trying to get himself back into the spotlight. Hats off to Elba though because not only does he star as the protagonist, but he also co-created and co-produced the series — he most certainly is a man of many talents.

All eight episodes of Turn Up Charlie will be hitting Netflix on March 15 for your marathoning pleasure. While there's been no confirmation of whether or not there will be a second season of Turn Up Charlie, I'm predicting that with Elba at the helm of it, it's going to be pretty successful so we shouldn't be surprised if it does. Bustle reached out to a representative of Netflix for comment.

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Charlie is a middle aged man looking for his final shot to make it as a big DJ, and he thinks his golden opportunity has come when his famous best friend tells him she has a job opportunity. But the opportunity is for Charlie to become the nanny — or "manny" — to her daughter Gabby. In an interview with AVTV Club Elba says the thought behind the show was to "try and be funny, do some djing and explore parenting." He knew that this would be too much to achieve in a film so set out to do an eight part series.

In real life Elba's claim "man's a big DJ ask Meghan and Harry" is pretty true because he's actually quite a successful DJ. When people saw his name on the bill for Coachella 2019 they were surprised, but Elba has been "DJing all his life" and has carved out an impressive career for himself. He says he has always been careful with the way that his music career has been promoted, and has not used his acting career to promote his music career.

Under the name DJ Big Driis, Elba has released one album, four EPs, and a mixtape, and last year he even launched his own record label called 7Wallace Music, as Billboard reports. All this while maintaining an incredibly successful acting career. Mind blowing stuff. With his extensive music career I think we should be expecting some original DJ Big Driis tracks in Turn Up Charlie.