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"Idris Elba has praised Thor director Kenneth Branagh for casting him as Norse god Heimdall. The Luther star, whose role in the Marvel Comics movie sparked anger  from a white supremacist group, told The Guardian that he respected Branagh for being &amp;quot;colour blind&amp;quot; in his approach to the blockbuster. &amp;quot;When Kenneth asked me to be part of it, I did find myself questioning race,&amp;quot; Elba said. &amp;quot;But Kenneth hadn&amp;#039;t even given that a thought. He just needed an actor who has presence and command, and felt that I fitted the bill. &amp;quot;It was so refreshing - and a testament to him as an actor and director that his casting was genuinely colour blind. I feel very proud of being part of that movie.&amp;quot; Explaining how Thor fits into his body of work, Elba said: &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s different from anything else I&amp;#039;ve done; but at the same time, it&amp;#039;s been pointed out to me that here I am playing a central, solid figure again - the one that people should trust. &amp;quot;Take [The Wire&amp;#039;s Stringer Bell] or Luther - that seems to be a common denominator in the characters I play.&amp;quot; Thor will open in UK cinemas on April 27 and in the US on May 6. Watch the trailer for Thor below:  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/the-avengers/news/a313109/idris-elba-praises-colour-blind-thor-casting/>