Idris Elba has made an impassioned plea for young Londoners to "put the knives down" as violent crime continues to engulf the capital.
The Luther and Wire actor, 46, said anyone who would consider stabbing someone else may as well turn the blade on themselves "because you're just going to stab your future".
After 17-year-old Ayub Hassan became the latest person to be stabbed to death in West Kensington on Thursday, Mr Elba said in a video message posted on his Instagram feed: "Knife crime is not new. I grew up in the '80s and there was knife crime back then, between blacks and whites.
"And now it's definitely between young black men in small, tiny communities. And it's affecting everyone. We all look stupid."
He continued: "If you've got a knife, or you know someone that's got a knife, tell them to stab themselves right now, trust me. Because you're just going to stab your future if you go and stab someone else.
"You become a murderer, you go to prison, you ain't got s***. For what? For some beef that lives within your community. You need to see past that."
Mr Elba also called for fellow high-profile figures in the entertainment world to call out knife crime: "We have to say something about it as well, entertainers that are out there.
"There's young people that look up to us, man, we need to just vocalise this. Send a message out saying put the knives down. It's dumb. It's dumb.
"We don't need to be killing ourselves. We have so much more we can offer. And you're going to kill your future, you're going to kill someone else's future, and it's dumb.
"Entertainers, do me a favour, man. Put out similar videos, let's try and put out something and say that we care for our communities. Stop the knife crime, please."
