Idris Elba has revealed that he thought he was going to die after contracting Covid-19.

The Luther star, 49, was in New Mexico where he had been due to begin filming upcoming Netflix western, The Harder They Fall, when he tested positive for Coronavirus.

His diagnosis came early on in the pandemic and Idris admits that he thought his number could be up.

Speaking to Esquire, he said: “Having Covid at the time I got it, it was very, very early in its cycle. So it was like, ‘Oh, s***, I’m going to die.’

“I could have easily been a statistic: went to a hospital and lungs failed and that’s the end of it. Very easily. I’ve had friends whose families have died” — Elba snaps his fingers —“like that.”

His wife Sabrina also tested positive after choosing not to quarantine away from him.

Thankfully they both went on to make a full recovery, but what the actor had not been prepared for was the backlash when he went public with having the virus.

Some also questioned how he was able to get a test without displaying symptoms at a time when many front line workers were struggling to get their hands on one.

Reflecting on that time, he told the publication: “It was like, ‘You’re fake; you’re being paid.’ No one really believed. It was really a tough time.

“So where I am now, you’re looking at a man that’s very thankful. You’re looking at a man that’s very reflective of what’s happened over the last eighteen months. You’re looking at a man that doesn’t really have time to waste on pretending to be anything but what I am. Who I am and what I am.”