John Boyega | |
|---|---|
 Boyega at the 2015San Diego Comic-Con | |
| Born | John Adedayo Bamidele Adegboyega (1992-03-17)17 March 1992 (age 33) London, England |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2011–present |
John Adedayo Bamidele Adegboyega (born 17 March 1992), known professionally asJohn Boyega, is an English actor and producer. He first gained recognition in Britain for his role as a teenage gang leader in the comedy horror filmAttack the Block (2011) before he had his international breakthrough playingFinn inStar Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). During his time as a cast member of theStar Warssequel trilogy (2017 and 2019), Boyega received theBAFTA Rising Star Award in 2016, and theTrophée Chopard at the2016 Cannes Film Festival.
Boyega's career continued to gain momentum in 2020 when he won aGolden Globe Award for his portrayal ofLeroy Logan inRed, White and Blue, a part ofSteve McQueen's anthology seriesSmall Axe.[1] He then played KingGhezo in the historical action filmThe Woman King (2022) and a drug dealer in the mystery filmThey Cloned Tyrone (2023).
Boyega was born on March 17, 1992, in theCamberwell district of London and grew up inPeckham. His parents, Abigail (a carer) and Samson Adegboyega (aPentecostal minister), are both ofYoruba descent.[2] He has two older sisters.[3]
His first acting role was playing a leopard in a play at Oliver Goldsmith Primary School.[4][5] While acting in another play at the school when he was nine years old, he was noticed by Teresa Early, the artistic director ofTheatre Peckham, a learning theatre for young people who live in southLondon. He spent his time there outside school hours from ages nine to fourteen. There was a rumour that his father wanted Boyega to become a minister, but John denied this in an interview with Sam Sanders onFresh Air. He said that his father supported his theatrical interests.[6][7][8][9] John and his sister Grace were some of the last people to seeDamilola Taylor alive: they were friends of his and the Boyegas helped look after him.[10]
In 2003, Boyega began his secondary education atWestminster City School, where he was in various school productions.[11] From 2008 to 2010, he attendedSouth Thames College at the college'sWandsworth campus to study for aNational Diploma in Performing Arts.[12] His activities there included playing thetitle role in the college's production ofOthello.[13] He enrolled at theUniversity of Greenwich to study for aBA in film studies and media writing,[14] but dropped out to focus on his acting career.[7] He trained with theIdentity School of Acting in London, and became a patron of itsLos Angeles branch when it opened in 2018.[15]
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Boyega trained at theIdentity School of Acting inHackney,[16] and appeared inSix Parties at theNational Theatre andCategory B at theTricycle Theatre prior to being offered a role in the 2011 filmAttack the Block.[17][18] In September 2011,HBO announced that Boyega had been cast in theboxing drama pilotDa Brick, loosely based onMike Tyson's life. Boyega was expected to play Donnie, who is released from ajuvenile detention centre on his 18th birthday and begins to examine what it means to be a man. The pilot, written byJohn Ridley,[19] was not picked up by HBO.[20] Also in 2011, Boyega was cast in the British drama filmJunkhearts as Jamal, a drug dealer who finds some guns and tries to sell them.
Boyega was chosen by Fionnuala Halligan of Screen International as one of the "UK Stars of Tomorrow 2011" and appeared alongside two other actors on the cover of the magazine's July 2011 edition.[21] In March 2012, he was cast in thefilm adaptation ofChimamanda Ngozi Adichie's bookHalf of a Yellow Sun.[22] On 29 April 2014, it was confirmed that Boyega was cast as a primary character inStar Wars: The Force Awakens.[23] It was later revealed that he would playFinn, astormtrooper for theFirst Order, who, after witnessing their cruelty, leaves the military power and joins the fight against them. The film was released on 18 December 2015. The film and Boyega's performance were both acclaimed by critics and audiences.[24][25] In January 2016, Boyega formed his own production company, UpperRoom Entertainment Limited.
In 2017, Boyega played the part of a part-time security guard inDetroit,Kathryn Bigelow's film about the1967 Detroit riots,[26] and reprised his role as Finn inStar Wars: The Last Jedi.[27] In 2018, Boyega's production company co-produced (withLegendary Entertainment[28]) 2018'sPacific Rim: Uprising, the sequel to the 2013 moviePacific Rim, in which he played the lead role of Jake Pentecost.[29] In November 2018 it was announced that Boyega would star withLetitia Wright in a novel adaption ofHold Back the Stars.[30] Boyega was also cast inSteve McQueen's miniseriesSmall Axe.[31]
In 2019, Boyega teased his new collaboration with Writer/DirectorSebastian Thiel,[32] with whom he is developing a series based on their childhood experiences and that he would be producing.[33] Boyega once again reprised his role as Finn inStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), the final installment of theStar Warssequel trilogy. In an interview onGood Morning America, he revealed that he had inadvertently left his script in a hotel room during filming. When it surfaced oneBay, it was bought by aLucasfilm employee to prevent it from being leaked.[34] In response to atweet suggesting he should play theDC Comics characterStatic in a live-action role, Boyega said he would be too old for the role, and that he would be interested in seeing a newcomer receive it. He did, however, express interest in playing the DC characterRed Hood.[35]
In the2020 and2021 editions of thePowerlist, Boyega was listed in the Top 100 of the most influential people in the UK of African/African-Caribbean descent.[36][37] He was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans byNew African magazine in 2020.[38] More recently, his production company UpperRoom made a first-look deal with VIS Kids.[39] While filming the Netflix filmRebel Ridge, he unexpectedly walked out mid-production due to family issues.[40] In 2022, Boyega was the lead in Abi Damaris Corbin's second feature film,Breaking, which premiered at the2022 Sundance Film Festival under its original title,892,[41] as well asGina Prince-Bythewood's historical epicThe Woman King alongsideViola Davis,Thuso Mbedu, andLashana Lynch.[42] Boyega next starred inNetflix's science-fiction comedyThey Cloned Tyrone, playing the titular character and multiple other characters.[43]
In May 2021, it was announced that he would reteam withJoe Cornish in a sequel forAttack the Block.[44] In October 2024, it was announced that Boyega is set to star as American singerOtis Redding, oppositeDanielle Deadwyler as his wife, Zelma, in an upcoming biographical film titledOtis & Zelma.[45]
Boyega expressed solidarity withGeorge Floyd,Sandra Bland,Trayvon Martin, andStephen Lawrence during a speech at aBlack Lives Matter rally inHyde Park, London.[46] His gesture was supported by a number of celebrities, andLucasfilm also reiterated their support for Boyega and the Black Lives Matter movement.[47][48][49]
In a 2020 interview withBritish GQ, Boyega openly criticisedDisney for sidelining his characterFinn in theStar Wars sequel trilogy: "[W]hat I would say to Disney is do not bring out a black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are and then have them pushed to the side. It's not good. I'll say it straight up."[3][50][51]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Attack the Block | Moses | ||
| Junkhearts | Jamal | |||
| 2013 | Half of a Yellow Sun | Ugwu | ||
| 2014 | Imperial Dreams | Bambi | ||
| 2015 | Star Wars: The Force Awakens | FN-2187 / Finn | ||
| 2017 | The Circle | Ty | ||
| Detroit | Melvin Dismukes | |||
| Star Wars: The Last Jedi | Finn | |||
| 2018 | Pacific Rim Uprising | Jake Pentecost | Also producer | |
| 2019 | Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker | Finn | ||
| 2021 | Naked Singularity | Casi | [52][53] | |
| 2022 | Breaking | Brian Brown-Easley | Also producer | |
| The Woman King | King Ghezo | |||
| 2023 | They Cloned Tyrone | Fontaine | ||
| TBA | Slime† | TBA (voice) | In production | [54] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Da Brick | Donnie | Pilot |
| Becoming Human | Danny Curtis | 4 episodes | |
| Law & Order: UK | Jamal Clarkson | Episode: "Survivor's Guilt" | |
| 2012 | My Murder | Shakilus Townsend | Television film |
| 2013 | The Whale | William Bond | |
| 2014 | 24: Live Another Day | Chris Tanner | 4 episodes |
| 2015 | Major Lazer | Blkmrkt | Voice; 10 episodes |
| Saturday Night Live | Himself | Segment: "Star Wars Auditions" | |
| 2016 | Tinkershrimp & Dutch | Dutch | Voice; 5 episodes[55] |
| 2017–2018 | Star Wars Forces of Destiny | Finn | Voice; 2 episodes[56] |
| 2018 | Watership Down | Bigwig | Voice; 4 episodes |
| 2019 | Serengeti | Narrator | Voice; 5 episodes[57] |
| 2020 | Small Axe | Leroy Logan | Episode: "Red, White and Blue" |
| 2023 | World War II: From the Frontlines | Narrator | Voice; 6 episodes[58] |
| 2025 | Love, Death & Robots | Slash | Voice; episode: "400 Boys" |
| Year | Title | Role | Theatre | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Six Parties | Ben | Royal National Theatre, London | [59] |
| Category B | Reece | Kiln Theatre, London | [60] | |
| Seize the Day | Sam | [61] | ||
| Detaining Justice | Guard / Passer-by | [62] | ||
| 2017 | Woyzeck | Woyzeck | The Old Vic, London | [63] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Tomorrow's Monsters | Jack Locke | Also producer |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Disney Infinity 3.0 | Finn | Voice |
| 2016 | Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens | ||
| 2017 | Star Wars Battlefront II |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Star Tours – The Adventures Continue | Finn | Scene added for seasonalSeason of the Force promotion |
| 2019 | Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance | Disney's Hollywood Studios | |
| 2020 | Disneyland |
Now, Boyega has moved on from Star Wars and has been filming the upcoming Netflix series, Rebel Ridge. However, a wrench has been thrown into the production — Boyega recently walked out mid-production, reportedly due to "family reasons".
