Idris Elba claims fame has ruined his love life.

The Pacific Rim actor - who has 11-year-old daughter, Isan, with his ex-wife Dormowa Sherman - admits the only women who approach him nowadays are autograph-hunters, and he misses the days before he was famous when he was more accessible to females.

"Look, you probably think I'm s***ging all the time. But there's no way. They're all my fans. I miss the days when me and my boys could go to a barbecue, and go, 'Who's that shorty [girl] over there?'"

Despite insisting fame has disrupted his ability to get close to women, the 41-year-old star is thankful for his "great career" but wouldn't mind if he never worked again should his upcoming film Long Walk to Freedom - in which he plays former South African President Nelson Mandela - be classed as a flop: "People are going to judge me for this role. I don't look like Mandela, some say I don't deserve it. Whatever. For me, it's important I am who I am, as I present this piece to the world. I'm 40 and I've had a great career. I'm alright to be myself at this point. Look, if I never work again, I don't care. I did my bit, you know?"