One thing you can say about Idris Elba is that he’s no rookie when it comes to acting. The 48-year-old English-born actor has been in the industry a long time, and with that comes a seasoned experience that has earned him countless roles in some of Hollywood’s biggest and most popular projects. His role as Heimdall in the MCU is possibly his most widely-seen to date and has solidified him as a big-name actor in the action/fantasy/sci-fi side of entertainment. His most recent role as Bloodsport in 2021’s The Suicide Squad would have certainly cemented that fact had it not been for the film’s low numbers at the box office.
Despite that, Idris is still seen as one of the biggest action stars in the world. But you know the old saying, “It’s no fun to have all of that fame and no one special to share it with.” I’d imagine the same is true for Idris. So who is the special someone that Idris has chosen to share his with?
Elba has been around on the Hollywood scene for a while. Initially, he was most well known for his role as drug kingpin Avon Barksdale’s second in command, Stringer Bell, on HBO’s The Wire, which ran from 2002 to 2008.
It wasn’t until 2007, when he landed the starring role as the mechanic Monty in Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls, that he attained sex symbol status and entered mainstream Hollywood as a rising star.
From there, he would continue his momentum to become one of Hollywood’s leading men with films like American Gangster (2007) and the sci-fi prequel Prometheus before finally settling on the action, fantasy, and sci-fi genre as his acting niche.
In 2011, he began portraying Heimdall in Thor in the MCU and would return to reprise his role several times in Thor: Dark World (2013), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015), and Avengers: Infinity War (2017).
He’s also starred in Pacific Rim (2013) and Star Trek Beyond, also providing his voice to Disney characters like Zootopia‘s Chief Bogo, Fluke from Finding Dory, and Shere Khan from the live-action/CGI adaptation of the Jungle Book.
Over the course of his career, Idris has naturally made a lot of money and met many people. And like many celebrities he’s had several relationships along the way that didn’t quite work out; in fact, he’s actually been married three times. According to The Sun, his first marriage was to Hanne “Kim” Norgaard from 1999 to 2003, and the couple welcomed their daughter, Isan, in 2002.
After the couple separated in 2003, Elba married then-girlfriend Sonya Nicole Hamlin in 2006, only for them to separate less than a year later.
For the next eight years, Elba remained unmarried. Then in 2014, he welcomed his second child, Winston, with his girlfriend and British makeup artist Naiyana Garth.
Unfortunately, the couple separated shortly after Winston’s birth, and Idris would continue living the bachelor life until 2017…
In 2017, Idris met Somalian-American model Sabrina Dhowre at a jazz bar in Vancouver, and the two instantly hit it off. Dhowre, a former Canadian pageant model, had been featured in ads for Harrods magazine and Versace, who apparently made Elba see “love at first sight,” according to his interview with Vogue magazine. Clearly, he meant it because a year later, he proposed to Dhowre in 2018 at a premiere for his movie, Yardie. The couple later tied the knot in April 2019, and so far, it seems that this one may last for a little while.
Outside of her modeling career, ethnicity, and nationality, not much is known about Sabrina Dhowre. She was born on July 16, 1989, making her fairly young at the age of 33. And she’s currently a social media personality on Instagram, where she features many posts regarding modeling, social activism, and of course, her famous husband.
Currently, the couple is sharing their third year as newlyweds, and they seem happier than ever. Together, they now have a podcast called ‘Coupledom’ where they discuss the ups and downs of marriage with other celebrity couples–reminds you of Jada Pinkett and Will Smith’s The Red Table–and are also producing an afro futuristic anime series called Dantai to stream on Crunchyroll. It seems the couple is definitely inseparable as they are going all the way to mix their personal life with their business. You know what they say: “the couple that plays together stays together.” Well, the Elbas have certainly come to play.
For Idris personally, Sabrina represents a turning point in his life. After his first two marriages, it seemed that the actor would never get married again. He even said as much himself.
“I said earlier that I would not get married again, but then I met Sabrina,” Elba revealed in an interview with People. And after two failed marriages, it’s easy to see why he felt that way. But sometimes, it just took a little time to find that right person finally. And if it doesn’t succeed the first time, try and try again.
I guess in Elba’s case, three times was the charm!