(become a producer: check), played opposite Tom
Hanks in the poorly reviewedThe Circle(inevitable
flop: check), returned to London to play a soldier
with PTSD at the Old Vic (reaffirm acting chops
onstage: check) and, withDetroit, become the face of
an Academy Award winner’s latest gritty film (make
an Oscar bid: check). And he’s working on writing
and producing his own movies in hopes of leading a
generation of artists who bring more diverse stories
to the screen.
So, yes, John Boyega will be a big, big movie star.
And he plans to get there his own way.
BOYEGA, THE SON OF NIGERIAN PARENTS, grew up
in the working-class South London neighborhood
of Peckham and began enrolling in youth theater
programs when he was 9. As a teen, he was cast in
a movie filming near his neighborhood,Attack the
Block.The comedic horror film centers on a gang
of teenagers who must defend their public-housing
project from an extraterrestrial invasion. Soon after
it premiered, Boyega began trying to land American
movie roles, culminating in a series of grueling,
secretStar Wars auditions for director J.J. Abrams,
who had been a fan of his first film.
The day he found out he got the part, Boyega
says, he went home to tell his parents. He bowed
to them in a traditional Nigerian sign of respect
to show his gratitude for the sacrifices they had
made. His parents—his mother works with the dis-
abled, while his father is a Pentecostal preacher—
immigrated to England before Boyega was born. “I
grew up with my dad telling me that you’re currently
around church people, but soon you’re going to be in
a world where people don’t believe the same things
you believe in. People are going to laugh at the stuff
you believe or are going to treat you a certain way,”
Boyega recalls. “And just to try as much as you can
to be loving to all people.”
Boyega’s casting inStar Wars put that advice
to the test. The beginning of the film’s first trailer,
released in 2014, showed the actor in Stormtrooper
garb minus the helmet. Within minutes, he was
deluged with messages on Twitter objecting to
the idea of a black man at the center of aStar Wars
saga. And Boyega continues to endure occasional
harassment on social media. “It’s blatant racism,”
he says. “I embrace all people, but I do not embrace
racists. I despise racists. Do they know how dumb
it is to waste brain cells on taking issue with the▲
In the upcoming
Star Wars:
The Last
Jedi, Boyega’s
lighthearted
Finn may take a
somber turn