While still passionate about his career in front of the camera, Hollywood star Idris Elba believes it would be a "natural progression" to move into directing.

The 'Luther' actor is looking ahead to the possibility of juggling more than one role on set at a time, citing Denzel Washington and Jon Favreau as inspirations, reports aceshowbiz.com.

"I love acting but I feel like there's much more to offer as a director, as a writer and a producer perhapsaI feel there are characters and roles that I haven't done yet and I still want to do those, but the truth is that I'd probably like to do that as an offering as a film director/actor," he said.

"There are some incredible people like Jon Favreau, like Denzel who have acted and directed, and directed themselves in movies and I feel like that's a natural progression for an actor.

"It turns out that it's 30 years I've been in the game already, it still feels like only yesterday. I love acting, don't get me wrong, but there are other things that I like to do," the actor adds.

Idris prides himself in always taking on different kinds of roles. He said in a recent podcast interview: "I've tried not to repeat myself as an actor, there's only one 'Luther' character, there's only one 'Beasts of No Nation' character. I try not to repeat anything."

And the 50-year-old star is also hoping to do more with his music career.

He said: "I produce and I've always had a studio, so I'm a sort of self-taught producer, I sing a little bit but I'm no Jamie Foxx, don't get me wrong!

"I like poetry and rap and so I feel like there's an offering in me in the form of an album, I've put out music before and varied types of music, but I definitely feel as though there's an outlet for me. When I'm writing and it comes to music, I feel a lot more free and at liberty to say what I want to say.

"As an actor, especially in this day and age, everyone is afraid of being cancelled or over-sharing ... In music I can say what I like, if I have an opinion I'll say it via my music and not feel worried about it, it's a different part of me, you're making music, you're in control of it, it's your narrative."