Idris Elba sold weed to Dave Chappelle to support his early days of his career

Idris Elba is "not proud of" helping himself learn a living by selling the drug to certain high-profile clients. Photo / Getty Images

Idris Elba sold weed to Dave Chappelle to support himself during the early days of his acting career in Hollywood.

The Sonic the Hedgehog 2 star is "not proud of" helping himself learn a living by selling the drug to certain high-profile clients after relocating to Hollywood.

While on the The Jess Cagle Show on Sirius XM, the 49-year-old told hosts Jess Cagle and Julie Cunningham: "It all fell flat on its face very quickly for about four years. In that time period, I did a lot of things that I'm not proud of. But I did a lot of things. I used to sell weed. It wasn't [legal] back then. I did that for a little bit just to pay the way."

In addition, The Wire star - who has a 20-year-old daughter Isan with his ex Kim Norgaard and a 7-year-old son Winston with his ex Naiyana Garth - worked as a doorman at a comedy club and as a DJ, jobs he labelled "fascinating" because of all the people who he met.

Idris Elba admitted he sold pot to Dave Chappelle when he was starting out in acting. Photo / AP

Of his jobs, he said "it's fascinating now. When I meet the comedians you kind of remember, the cool English guy with the funny accent and the little hair."

"Dave Chappelle remembers me 'cause he used to buy weed from me."

Idris - who is now married to Sabrina Elba - admitted after coming out of drama school in London he "basically went straight into work. Anyway, moving on. But yeah, I did all kinds of things, to be honest."

He said: "I went to a performing arts college and did two years of everything – scene painting, a little ballet, a little contemporary dance."I came out and basically went straight into work."

Sabrina and Idris Elba. Photo / Getty Images

Earlier this year, the Beasts of No Nation star shared that he wanted to "lean away from the acting work" to move into making music.

Idris said: "Some may think, 'Well, it will be the death of your acting if your music's shit.' I've dealt with the internal struggle of that over the years. So now I'm at peace and I've chosen: this is what I'm doing, and I'm going to do it. Some will love it and some will hate it."