私のDNAには常にパフォーマンスのレベルがありました。

This article is taken from the summer 2025 issue of Dazed. Buy a copy of the magazine here.

Only a lucky few have ever heard Damson Idris rap. When he was a teenager, he and a few friends recorded some tracks at the infamous Unit 10 in Walworth, southeast London – the same studio where Peckham rapper Giggs recorded his debut album, Walk in da Park. “We all wanted to be like Giggs,” says the 33-year-old actor. “I had a squeaky voice,” he tells me. A friend recently sent some of the old tracks to their WhatsApp group chat and, despite him never wanting the rest of the world to hear them, Idris listened back with pride. “I was like, ‘Rah.’ I was kinda hard!”

Idris was ‘hard’ at football back in those days too. He’d even trialled for Charlton Athletic FC. “I wanted to be like David Beckham,” he says. That’s no surprise – every kid in the 00s did. But Idris had taken it a step further when he sent a tape of himself to CBBC to be on a show called Beckham’s Hotshots, in which eight kids competed to train with Beckham in Madrid. He was one of the 20 kids selected from the open call, but ultimately missed out on making the final cut. Still, his desire to be on screen was just beginning to burgeon. “Whether it was being a class clown in school, trying to be a footballer, or making everyone laugh at the back of the bus on our way to face the team. There was always a level of performance that was in my DNA.”

Fast-forward from those jovial school years to now, and Idris has become known as a craftsman when it comes to his acting performances. For his breakout role as drug dealer Franklin Saint in Los Angeles-based series Snowfall, he perfected the accent and mannerisms specific to South Central by working with rapper WC. In the 2018 film Farming, in which he played a Nigerian boy who grows up to become a member of a white skinhead gang, Idris stayed in character throughout the entirety of filming.

Now, for his new film, F1, co-starring Brad Pitt, Idris spent seven months learning how to drive supercars. It paid off. “We went from track to track of Grand Prix racing and caught footage of me and Brad actually driving on a track with the real fans. What it does for the movie is that you’re right there in the car with us.”

F1 follows Sonny Hayes (Pitt), who is asked by his former teammate, Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), to mentor Joshua Pearce (Idris) for his Apex Grand Prix team. “Ruben informs Sonny that he has a young rookie who’s fresh on the scene, trying to prove himself, but he lacks the experience and maturity. So essentially, the two of them are together trying to help this team win their first race,” says Idris. “But it’s not just a racing movie. It’s full of heart.” Idris feels that the opportunity to work with Pitt is a huge stride forward. “You rarely see people like myself on platforms of this size. To be praised by all the people involved, from [director Joseph] Kosinski to Brad Pitt and [producer] Jerry Bruckheimer, it’s just a dream come true,” he says. “To go toe to toe on a movie of this magnitude, more doors will be broken down.”

This role feels like a new era for Idris. It’s a tonal shift from dark and gritty to vivid and high-octane. Growing up, Idris played the Formula 1 game with his brothers. He’d always had an interest in supercars and attended his first race in Budapest in 2018. “When this opportunity came, I watched [documentary series] Drive to Survive. I jumped on the simulators as much as possible. I really started following the athletic and personal lives of many of the drivers.” The final result is a spectacle that truly honours the sport. “To see people from that world interacting with each other and doing what they do, year in year out, helped and forced us to immerse ourselves deeply with them.”

I thought maybe I’d end up in The Lion King. I worked there as an usher, selling ice cream, standing on the box, [handing out] brochures – Damson Idris

The making of this film wasn’t anything like Idris had experienced before. When he was filming scenes in the car, he was alone. He couldn’t hear the director, only the stuntman who was guiding him through. He had to say his lines at specific points on the track, while playing to different camera angles, all the while driving up to 180mph. “I couldn’t imagine shooting this movie on a green screen,” he says. “You’re going to see truth and authenticity.”

Formula 1 has thrillingly evolved over the years into a global cultural phenomenon. In its early years, it was seen as a niche European motorsport, followed only by a cohort of dedicated fans. But stars like Lewis Hamilton – seven-time world champion – have helped to catalyse the sport’s crossover into mainstream culture and international relevance. Hamilton even mentored Idris on set – he says it helped “having people like Hamilton who have a vision for innovation and a new perspective, really championing artists like myself.”

It’s morning when we speak over video. Idris is in London, but only for a few days. Yesterday, he shot for Dazed’s cover. “I was doing backflips. Jumping off walls. Dropping tears. I can’t wait for everyone to see it,” he says, donning a black jumper and his idiosyncratic pearly smile. The sun shines brightly through the window behind him. After our chat, he plans to enjoy the good weather with his mum, siblings and 17 nieces and nephews. “I’m going to eat a bunch of jollof rice and pounded yam with them.”

When we start the call, Idris notices my accent, and asks where I’m from. I say Leeds. “I was in Yorkshire before. I did a play out there called Ghost Town,” he says proudly. Idris played a character called Joe who suffers from OCD. It ran at York Theatre Royal in 2014 and was the first serious role he’d ever done. “Yorkshire has a special place in my heart. It’s the place that made me pivot [and develop] the taste I would have for the roles I’d play in the future.”

It’s easy to see that Idris is very particular about what kinds of jobs he’ll take on, be it a tech intern taken hostage in Black Mirror’s “Smithereens” episode or a creepy boyfriend turned murder victim in satirical black-comedy horror series Swarm. He has a thing for shows that are curious and push boundaries. “I loved Adolescence. I would love to work with that director [Philip Barantini],” he says of the series, which saw episodes shot in one continuous take. “That shooting style, I’d love to do it. It’s almost like a play. It would be like going back to my roots.”

Idris was born in 1991 and raised in Peckham, southeast London. His family is Yoruba Nigerian, and he’s the youngest of six siblings. His brothers and sisters work in law, IT and business – birth-order theory would suggest Idris’s desire to pursue arts and entertainment is a product of being the last-born. Austrian psychologist Alfred Adler theorised that younger siblings tend to distinguish themselves from their older siblings by seeking out new pastures and taking bold risks as a way to gain independence. Still, even when Idris enrolled at Brunel University for a BA in Theatre, Film and Television Studies at 18, he’d never imagined he’d get anywhere beyond the odd theatre play in the West End. “I thought maybe I’d end up in The Lion King,” shares the actor, who actually worked at the Lyceum Theatre, which is home to the Disney musical. “I worked there as an usher, selling ice cream, standing on the box, [handing out] brochures.”

Before success hit, Idris also worked at a charity fundraising company called GoGen. “A bunch of actors worked there. It was like the job everyone did when they were in between work,” he says, before reciting his old cold-call script: “Hi. My name is Damson Idris. I’m calling on behalf of the National Deaf Children’s Society. Can I speak to Mrs Smith, please?” It was at this job, during a toilet break, that his US agent called about an audition for Snowfall. “I’d never been to the States before, but I knew this character. I related to Franklin because of growing up in southeast London.”

Idris believes he manifested Snowfall. He had been auditioning for roles in the UK, but wasn’t landing anything major. “During that time, there was such a renaissance of young British actors [and shows]. There was Youngers, Some Girls, Top Boy.” He would always get to the last round of auditions for said shows, but they’d end up giving the role to someone else. “I said to myself, I’m going to stick to doing plays.”

He did Polly Stenham’s Hotel at the National Theatre in 2014, and would spend time in the green room there talking to the likes of Michaela Coel and the late Helen McCrory about the future. It was there that Idris had a feeling that America would give him his big break. “I kind of skipped the rite of passage in the UK. You lot only wanted me to do these little roles here and there. All right, cool. I’m going to go over there and play with these guys.”

That was nearly 10 years ago, and he believes that times have changed. But in those days, going to the US seemed like the only way for Black actors to move their careers forward. “Back then, the UK didn’t really know what to do with young, raw, inner-city Black actors, other than putting us on hood shows,” he says. “Now it’s completely shifted. I just saw an announcement that my guy [Paapa Essiedu] is about to play Snape in Harry Potter. That could never happen before.”

Idris is currently in production for the film Children of Blood and Bone, an adaptation of the Afro-fantasy novel by Tomi Adeyemi about a young girl’s quest to restore magic to the oppressed kingdom of Orïsha. Idris plays Prince Inan alongside a stellar cast of Black actors including Cynthia Erivo, Idris Elba, Tosin Cole, Thuso Mbedu, Amandla Stenberg, Regina King and Viola Davis. The set is in South Africa and is a melting pot of cultures. “Some days, someone’s bringing in soul food. Some days, someone’s bringing in jollof rice. That’s the vibe. That’s what’s fire,” he says.

Idris has his own production company called Keep Quiet, which he founded with partner Zachary Beckman. They currently have a deal with FX Networks and are working on creating some great stories and opportunities for the next generation. “In the position I’m in now as a producer, if I’m making something in the UK, I’m going over to the States and being like, ‘Yo, learn the British accent. I want you to come over here.’ I love seeing people transform.” Idris writes too, but mostly in secret. “Too scared to show it to anyone,” he admits. “It’s not that I’m fearful of correction. I know how much detail I put into the parts I play. So I just want that to be the same thing when I’m writing.”

One thing Idris is definitely confident about is his style. It makes perfect sense that he once aspired to be a rapper. He’s got that whole smooth but street, 90s-fine thing going on – like a young Big Daddy Kane. He carries himself with the kind of audacious flair typical of a musician. “Who the fuck has a beige-themed party?” a comment reads on a picture posted by Highsnobiety on Instagram of Idris and Tyler, the Creator dressed in beige for the actor’s 32nd birth- day party. “I love being classic,” Idris says. “Give me a suit in every colour!” He doesn’t have a stylist but he has something arguably better. “My secret weapon is that my whole team is women.”

His mother is also a big style influence for him. She’s a long-time lover of jewellery and fashion. Idris became fascinated with jewellery too, and this year launched his own fine jewellery house, Didris, inspired by his mother’s life story. “She bought gold from Nigeria to the UK and would sell it and make a profit,” he says. She’d then use that money to invest in real estate in Nigeria, before eventually bringing her family over to the UK. However, once they’d all settled in London, she stopped. “She was raising these kids in a foreign country and dealing with the challenges of being in the late 80s, early 90s in Peckham,” says Idris. “I wanted to pick up where my mum left off.” He decided to make the brand a luxury line because he hadn’t seen anyone who looked like him in that market. He also felt like it would be a betrayal to create something cheap and inauthentic. “People would, in two seconds, know Damson’s not wearing this. This is a money grab.”

However, when Didris launched this year, Idris faced criticism about the high price points. Items from the collection range from a handcrafted thin yellow ring costing £2,800 to a monogram cuff fitted with diamonds and emeralds costing £44,500. “When you’re in a luxury space, you need to start at the position you want to be taken seriously at,” says Idris, standing on business. He wants people to feel as good wearing Didris as they do when they wear Cartier or Tiffany. “I’m going to create new pieces that are more affordable. But for now, it’s very important to set a precedent.” He’s also adamant about not cutting corners. He sources natural diamonds that are Kimberley-approved and from conflict-free zones. “That was so important to me. Not just because of my African heritage, but my morality and dignity.”

Idris’s clean-cutness is perhaps why he has become such an internet heartthrob. A week doesn’t go by on social media without a cohort of his fans gushing over a picture of him. But is he ever freaked out by all the parasocial thirsting? “I love it all,” he says. “Someone once said to me, as long as the women want to be with you and the men want to hang out with you, you’re doing a good job.

Dashing looks aside, Idris’s dedication to acting is what people admire most about him. He’s come a long way from his minor soap roles in Casualty and Doctors to starring alongside some of Hollywood’s biggest names. Now, he’s at a stage in his career where full-circle moments are happening more and more. “Brad doesn’t even know this story,” he says, “[But when] I worked at the Lyceum Theatre, Brad came to watch The Lion King. And of course, it’s the one day they had me working at the back.” Idris tried to catch a glimpse of Pitt, but only caught the back of his head as he left the theatre. “I just saw blond hair, cowboy boots and some blue jeans,” he laughs. “It’s so funny to be in a movie with him because I remember that moment.”

It isn’t just those big-screen achievements that Idris is proud of. Last year, he was made an alumnus of the year by Brunel University. “I was seeing [other] people winning this award and I was like, ‘Yo, what’s going on?’” he laughs. He eventually checked his junk mail and found that the university had been trying to contact him for the past seven years. “They were so proud of me,” he says. “It reaffirmed just how far I’ve come. How important it is to always go back to where you came from.”

Idris may have never predicted the heights he would end up reaching back when he was a student, but he enthusiastically rose to the challenge. His role as Joshua in F1 mirrors his own story in some ways: a young man, full of adrenaline, on track to be the best in the game. “I’m so grateful to God for putting me on this journey,” says Idris. “This movie is the biggest moment of my life, because not only did I pray for it, I was ready for it.” 

Taken from the Dazed Summer 2025 issue.

This article is taken from the summer 2025 issue of Dazed. Buy a copy of the magazine here.

Only a lucky few have ever heard Damson Idris rap. When he was a teenager, he and a few friends recorded some tracks at the infamous Unit 10 in Walworth, southeast London – the same studio where Peckham rapper Giggs recorded his debut album, Walk in da Park. “We all wanted to be like Giggs,” says the 33-year-old actor. “I had a squeaky voice,” he tells me. A friend recently sent some of the old tracks to their WhatsApp group chat and, despite him never wanting the rest of the world to hear them, Idris listened back with pride. “I was like, ‘Rah.’ I was kinda hard!”

Idris was ‘hard’ at football back in those days too. He’d even trialled for Charlton Athletic FC. “I wanted to be like David Beckham,” he says. That’s no surprise – every kid in the 00s did. But Idris had taken it a step further when he sent a tape of himself to CBBC to be on a show called Beckham’s Hotshots, in which eight kids competed to train with Beckham in Madrid. He was one of the 20 kids selected from the open call, but ultimately missed out on making the final cut. Still, his desire to be on screen was just beginning to burgeon. “Whether it was being a class clown in school, trying to be a footballer, or making everyone laugh at the back of the bus on our way to face the team. There was always a level of performance that was in my DNA.”

Fast-forward from those jovial school years to now, and Idris has become known as a craftsman when it comes to his acting performances. For his breakout role as drug dealer Franklin Saint in Los Angeles-based series Snowfall, he perfected the accent and mannerisms specific to South Central by working with rapper WC. In the 2018 film Farming, in which he played a Nigerian boy who grows up to become a member of a white skinhead gang, Idris stayed in character throughout the entirety of filming.

Now, for his new film, F1, co-starring Brad Pitt, Idris spent seven months learning how to drive supercars. It paid off. “We went from track to track of Grand Prix racing and caught footage of me and Brad actually driving on a track with the real fans. What it does for the movie is that you’re right there in the car with us.”

F1 follows Sonny Hayes (Pitt), who is asked by his former teammate, Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), to mentor Joshua Pearce (Idris) for his Apex Grand Prix team. “Ruben informs Sonny that he has a young rookie who’s fresh on the scene, trying to prove himself, but he lacks the experience and maturity. So essentially, the two of them are together trying to help this team win their first race,” says Idris. “But it’s not just a racing movie. It’s full of heart.” Idris feels that the opportunity to work with Pitt is a huge stride forward. “You rarely see people like myself on platforms of this size. To be praised by all the people involved, from [director Joseph] Kosinski to Brad Pitt and [producer] Jerry Bruckheimer, it’s just a dream come true,” he says. “To go toe to toe on a movie of this magnitude, more doors will be broken down.”

This role feels like a new era for Idris. It’s a tonal shift from dark and gritty to vivid and high-octane. Growing up, Idris played the Formula 1 game with his brothers. He’d always had an interest in supercars and attended his first race in Budapest in 2018. “When this opportunity came, I watched [documentary series] Drive to Survive. I jumped on the simulators as much as possible. I really started following the athletic and personal lives of many of the drivers.” The final result is a spectacle that truly honours the sport. “To see people from that world interacting with each other and doing what they do, year in year out, helped and forced us to immerse ourselves deeply with them.”

I thought maybe I’d end up in The Lion King. I worked there as an usher, selling ice cream, standing on the box, [handing out] brochures – Damson Idris

The making of this film wasn’t anything like Idris had experienced before. When he was filming scenes in the car, he was alone. He couldn’t hear the director, only the stuntman who was guiding him through. He had to say his lines at specific points on the track, while playing to different camera angles, all the while driving up to 180mph. “I couldn’t imagine shooting this movie on a green screen,” he says. “You’re going to see truth and authenticity.”

Formula 1 has thrillingly evolved over the years into a global cultural phenomenon. In its early years, it was seen as a niche European motorsport, followed only by a cohort of dedicated fans. But stars like Lewis Hamilton – seven-time world champion – have helped to catalyse the sport’s crossover into mainstream culture and international relevance. Hamilton even mentored Idris on set – he says it helped “having people like Hamilton who have a vision for innovation and a new perspective, really championing artists like myself.”

It’s morning when we speak over video. Idris is in London, but only for a few days. Yesterday, he shot for Dazed’s cover. “I was doing backflips. Jumping off walls. Dropping tears. I can’t wait for everyone to see it,” he says, donning a black jumper and his idiosyncratic pearly smile. The sun shines brightly through the window behind him. After our chat, he plans to enjoy the good weather with his mum, siblings and 17 nieces and nephews. “I’m going to eat a bunch of jollof rice and pounded yam with them.”

When we start the call, Idris notices my accent, and asks where I’m from. I say Leeds. “I was in Yorkshire before. I did a play out there called Ghost Town,” he says proudly. Idris played a character called Joe who suffers from OCD. It ran at York Theatre Royal in 2014 and was the first serious role he’d ever done. “Yorkshire has a special place in my heart. It’s the place that made me pivot [and develop] the taste I would have for the roles I’d play in the future.”

It’s easy to see that Idris is very particular about what kinds of jobs he’ll take on, be it a tech intern taken hostage in Black Mirror’s “Smithereens” episode or a creepy boyfriend turned murder victim in satirical black-comedy horror series Swarm. He has a thing for shows that are curious and push boundaries. “I loved Adolescence. I would love to work with that director [Philip Barantini],” he says of the series, which saw episodes shot in one continuous take. “That shooting style, I’d love to do it. It’s almost like a play. It would be like going back to my roots.”

Idris was born in 1991 and raised in Peckham, southeast London. His family is Yoruba Nigerian, and he’s the youngest of six siblings. His brothers and sisters work in law, IT and business – birth-order theory would suggest Idris’s desire to pursue arts and entertainment is a product of being the last-born. Austrian psychologist Alfred Adler theorised that younger siblings tend to distinguish themselves from their older siblings by seeking out new pastures and taking bold risks as a way to gain independence. Still, even when Idris enrolled at Brunel University for a BA in Theatre, Film and Television Studies at 18, he’d never imagined he’d get anywhere beyond the odd theatre play in the West End. “I thought maybe I’d end up in The Lion King,” shares the actor, who actually worked at the Lyceum Theatre, which is home to the Disney musical. “I worked there as an usher, selling ice cream, standing on the box, [handing out] brochures.”

Before success hit, Idris also worked at a charity fundraising company called GoGen. “A bunch of actors worked there. It was like the job everyone did when they were in between work,” he says, before reciting his old cold-call script: “Hi. My name is Damson Idris. I’m calling on behalf of the National Deaf Children’s Society. Can I speak to Mrs Smith, please?” It was at this job, during a toilet break, that his US agent called about an audition for Snowfall. “I’d never been to the States before, but I knew this character. I related to Franklin because of growing up in southeast London.”

Idris believes he manifested Snowfall. He had been auditioning for roles in the UK, but wasn’t landing anything major. “During that time, there was such a renaissance of young British actors [and shows]. There was Youngers, Some Girls, Top Boy.” He would always get to the last round of auditions for said shows, but they’d end up giving the role to someone else. “I said to myself, I’m going to stick to doing plays.”

He did Polly Stenham’s Hotel at the National Theatre in 2014, and would spend time in the green room there talking to the likes of Michaela Coel and the late Helen McCrory about the future. It was there that Idris had a feeling that America would give him his big break. “I kind of skipped the rite of passage in the UK. You lot only wanted me to do these little roles here and there. All right, cool. I’m going to go over there and play with these guys.”

That was nearly 10 years ago, and he believes that times have changed. But in those days, going to the US seemed like the only way for Black actors to move their careers forward. “Back then, the UK didn’t really know what to do with young, raw, inner-city Black actors, other than putting us on hood shows,” he says. “Now it’s completely shifted. I just saw an announcement that my guy [Paapa Essiedu] is about to play Snape in Harry Potter. That could never happen before.”

Idris is currently in production for the film Children of Blood and Bone, an adaptation of the Afro-fantasy novel by Tomi Adeyemi about a young girl’s quest to restore magic to the oppressed kingdom of Orïsha. Idris plays Prince Inan alongside a stellar cast of Black actors including Cynthia Erivo, Idris Elba, Tosin Cole, Thuso Mbedu, Amandla Stenberg, Regina King and Viola Davis. The set is in South Africa and is a melting pot of cultures. “Some days, someone’s bringing in soul food. Some days, someone’s bringing in jollof rice. That’s the vibe. That’s what’s fire,” he says.

Idris has his own production company called Keep Quiet, which he founded with partner Zachary Beckman. They currently have a deal with FX Networks and are working on creating some great stories and opportunities for the next generation. “In the position I’m in now as a producer, if I’m making something in the UK, I’m going over to the States and being like, ‘Yo, learn the British accent. I want you to come over here.’ I love seeing people transform.” Idris writes too, but mostly in secret. “Too scared to show it to anyone,” he admits. “It’s not that I’m fearful of correction. I know how much detail I put into the parts I play. So I just want that to be the same thing when I’m writing.”

One thing Idris is definitely confident about is his style. It makes perfect sense that he once aspired to be a rapper. He’s got that whole smooth but street, 90s-fine thing going on – like a young Big Daddy Kane. He carries himself with the kind of audacious flair typical of a musician. “Who the fuck has a beige-themed party?” a comment reads on a picture posted by Highsnobiety on Instagram of Idris and Tyler, the Creator dressed in beige for the actor’s 32nd birth- day party. “I love being classic,” Idris says. “Give me a suit in every colour!” He doesn’t have a stylist but he has something arguably better. “My secret weapon is that my whole team is women.”

His mother is also a big style influence for him. She’s a long-time lover of jewellery and fashion. Idris became fascinated with jewellery too, and this year launched his own fine jewellery house, Didris, inspired by his mother’s life story. “She bought gold from Nigeria to the UK and would sell it and make a profit,” he says. She’d then use that money to invest in real estate in Nigeria, before eventually bringing her family over to the UK. However, once they’d all settled in London, she stopped. “She was raising these kids in a foreign country and dealing with the challenges of being in the late 80s, early 90s in Peckham,” says Idris. “I wanted to pick up where my mum left off.” He decided to make the brand a luxury line because he hadn’t seen anyone who looked like him in that market. He also felt like it would be a betrayal to create something cheap and inauthentic. “People would, in two seconds, know Damson’s not wearing this. This is a money grab.”

However, when Didris launched this year, Idris faced criticism about the high price points. Items from the collection range from a handcrafted thin yellow ring costing £2,800 to a monogram cuff fitted with diamonds and emeralds costing £44,500. “When you’re in a luxury space, you need to start at the position you want to be taken seriously at,” says Idris, standing on business. He wants people to feel as good wearing Didris as they do when they wear Cartier or Tiffany. “I’m going to create new pieces that are more affordable. But for now, it’s very important to set a precedent.” He’s also adamant about not cutting corners. He sources natural diamonds that are Kimberley-approved and from conflict-free zones. “That was so important to me. Not just because of my African heritage, but my morality and dignity.”

Idris’s clean-cutness is perhaps why he has become such an internet heartthrob. A week doesn’t go by on social media without a cohort of his fans gushing over a picture of him. But is he ever freaked out by all the parasocial thirsting? “I love it all,” he says. “Someone once said to me, as long as the women want to be with you and the men want to hang out with you, you’re doing a good job.

Dashing looks aside, Idris’s dedication to acting is what people admire most about him. He’s come a long way from his minor soap roles in Casualty and Doctors to starring alongside some of Hollywood’s biggest names. Now, he’s at a stage in his career where full-circle moments are happening more and more. “Brad doesn’t even know this story,” he says, “[But when] I worked at the Lyceum Theatre, Brad came to watch The Lion King. And of course, it’s the one day they had me working at the back.” Idris tried to catch a glimpse of Pitt, but only caught the back of his head as he left the theatre. “I just saw blond hair, cowboy boots and some blue jeans,” he laughs. “It’s so funny to be in a movie with him because I remember that moment.”

It isn’t just those big-screen achievements that Idris is proud of. Last year, he was made an alumnus of the year by Brunel University. “I was seeing [other] people winning this award and I was like, ‘Yo, what’s going on?’” he laughs. He eventually checked his junk mail and found that the university had been trying to contact him for the past seven years. “They were so proud of me,” he says. “It reaffirmed just how far I’ve come. How important it is to always go back to where you came from.”

Idris may have never predicted the heights he would end up reaching back when he was a student, but he enthusiastically rose to the challenge. His role as Joshua in F1 mirrors his own story in some ways: a young man, full of adrenaline, on track to be the best in the game. “I’m so grateful to God for putting me on this journey,” says Idris. “This movie is the biggest moment of my life, because not only did I pray for it, I was ready for it.” 

Taken from the Dazed Summer 2025 issue.