Roger Moore Backtracks After Suggesting Idris Elba Not ‘English-English’ Enough to Play Bond

Roger Moore had some explaining to do after laughing off the idea that black actor Idris Elba could play James Bond.

“An interview I gave to Paris Match implies I said something racist about Idris Elba,” Moore tweeted Saturday night. “That is simply untrue. #Lost in translation.”

Moore, who played the super spy in seven films between 1973 and 1985, was asked by the French magazine what he thought about the buzz suggesting that Elba might play 007 in an upcoming installment of the film franchise.

“A few years ago, I said that Cuba Gooding Jr.