Idris Elba on watching his work and 'The Office'

Idris Elba is on a roll right now with his 6 episode stint on The Office and his upcoming movie, Obsessed, with Beyonce.

Did you watch him on The Wire? Freakin incredible!

From The Washington Post:

You recently said during an NPR interview that you haven’t seen many episodes of “The Wire.” Is that true?

I saw some of Season 1. I didn’t see any of Season 2. I saw the last scene, where I die, in that episode of Season 3. So I haven’t seen [most of] “The Wire.” Understand that because of the authenticity of the show, it’s like I lived it. I don’t really need to see it. It’s kind of like a memory or something that really happened. I don’t really watch anything I’ve done. I’ve been doing six episodes of “The Office.” I’ve seen the first one, but I haven’t seen any of the others. I’m hypercritical about my work, so I try not to torture myself.

Speaking of “The Office,” I’m curious: which member of that show’s cast raised your game the most when you were shooting?

It was actually a combination of Steve Carell and John Krasinski.

[Krasinski] hazed me, okay? While we were doing scenes, especially scenes where I would be in front of the whole team and telling them orders and such, he would always throw jabs at me and see if I’d crack. A few times, I got him. Because when the camera was on him, I’d be exactly the same way and be a complete goofball and he just wasn’t expecting that from me. Because he’s like: “Oh my God. Stringer Bell’s funny.”

And Steve Carell is unbelievably funny and crazy. I mean, he’s so good at the improvisation. And never cracks up. Ever.