Bet you can't guess why Idris Elba chooses to live in a big city

Idris Elba has opened up about how life has changed for him since becoming famous as an actor, saying that although he loves the recognition he gets on the street, he sometimes finds it a little too much to handle.

While the Dark Tower star loves being an actor, he says he sometimes does miss stepping out of the door without being recognised.

"I do get a lot of attention. I miss the anonymity a little bit," the 45-year-old actor was quoted as saying by the Daily Express.

Because he is well recognised across the globe as an actor, he says he had no option but to live in a big city to "blend in" a bit.

"That's one of the reasons you live in a big city, so you can blend in. I don't resent it, though," Elba said, adding that he would have been a chess player if he never wanted recognition.

He said, "If I didn't want to be recognised I would've been a chess player. I'm in the wrong profession to complain about being recognised."

While he craves less visibility, Elba says he worries about fading away from the limelight.

"I do worry about audiences going, 'I've seen enough now, thanks very much!'" he says.

On the recent episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Elba opened up about the struggles he faced while trying to become an actor in Hollywood. He revealed he had to live out of his car in New York City.

"I moved to New York, young budding actor, in the mid '90s," he told Ellen DeGeneres on her talk show. "I had some savings and then my savings ran out and I couldn't get any work, it was tough times."

Elba also disclosed working as a bouncer at comedy club Carolines, where he recalls seeing Ellen perform stand-up early in her career.

"I think I saw one of your early sets," Elba said. "You were hilarious, No it was great, I met a lot of really talented comedians and I think I saw you that one time."