When you think of Idris Elba, the first thing to spring to mind might be his legendary role as Stringer Bell in The Wire.

Or maybe you think of him going head-to-head with Matthew McConaughey in the blockbuster adaption of Stephen King's Dark Towerseries, or hunting serial killers in the London-based crime drama Luther.

What you probably wouldn't think of are comedies and musicals. At least not yet.

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Elba is keen to do more of both, though. At a roundtable event last year to promote his new semi-autobiographical comedy series In the Long Run, he spoke about his desire to try his hand at more light-hearted roles.

"I like it," explained Elba. "I like the freedom of it. I think with drama obviously you follow a narrative in a certain way.

"But with comedy you can on the day come up with something really stupid and make the crew laugh that actually might work in the show. I love doing that."

Sammy Kamara plays a character based on a young Idris Elba in 'In the Long Run'.Credit: sky

Set on an estate in 1980s London, In the Long Runis a snapshot of Elba's own childhood. Elba stars as Walter, a character based loosely on his own father, while the young actor Sammy Kamara plays Kobna -- a boy based on Elba himself. It could easily have been a coming-of-age drama rather than a comedy, but Elba explained that he was keen to keep it light.

"I wanted to make it a comedy because I wanted to try my hand at comedy -- doing a comedic role, at which I fail miserably!" he joked. "But that said it felt too heavy to be a drama; it felt like there was a statement to be made if we did a drama and we didn't want to do that. I didn't want to focus on racism from a point of view of like, 'Oh my God, this is what it was like in the '80s'.

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"So we wanted to take a comedic stance, and like I said selfishly I wanted to... I wanted to be in Only Fools and Horses, you know what I mean, I just never got the audition."

So does Elba find comedy challenging, given he's largely starred in dramas, thrillers, and big budget blockbusters?

"It is a challenge, yeah, because if I'm honest I tend to overcook it," he said.

"[The script] feels very funny, period. When I'm acting in comedy I tend to egg it up a little bit. But I enjoy doing it because my old man was a bit like that."

"I never want to be that person that says, 'Oh, I wish I did it'."

What comes across most at the roundtable is how keen Elba is to take on new challenges, and work on the things he's passionate about -- and how he's not afraid to put the work in to get those projects made.

"Sometimes you have to sacrifice certain things if you want things," said Elba. "My mum and dad were very much like that -- they worked all the time, but never really achieved the things they wanted to. And I remember growing up thinking I'd rather just achieve the things I want.

"I never want to be that person that says, 'Oh, I wish I did it'. I just want to do it."

Aside from comedy and doing more work behind the camera (Elba also produced and helped write In the Long Run) is there anything else in his career he's keen to achieve that he hasn't done yet?

"A musical," Elba said. "I would love to do a musical. It's just something I haven't done that I would like to do."

Watch this space...

All episodes of In the Long Run(Sky One) are available on 29 March.

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