John Boyega

John Boyega
John Boyega at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con International
Born	John Adedayo B Adegboyega (1992-03-17) 17 March 1992 Peckham, London, England, United Kingdom
Alma mater	University of Greenwich
Occupation	Actor, producer
Years active	2011–present

John Adedayo Adegboyega (born 17 March 1992), known professionally as John Boyega, is a British actor and producer best known for playing Finn in the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the seventh film of the Star Wars series. Boyega rose to prominence in his native United Kingdom for his role as Moses in the 2011 sci-fi comedy film Attack the Block.

Other credits include historical fiction drama film Half of a Yellow Sun (2013), four episodes of the television series 24: Live Another Day and the drama Imperial Dreams (2014).

Early life

Boyega was born in Peckham, south London,^[1] to Nigerian parents, Abigail and Samson.^[2][3] His first role was a leopard in a play at his primary school.^[4]

Boyega was a pupil at Oliver Goldsmith Primary School. While acting in a play there at the age of nine, he was noticed by Teresa Early, the artistic director of Theatre Peckham, a learning theatre for young people who live in south London. After obtaining financial assistance from a hardship fund, he joined the theatre, spending his time there outside school hours between the ages of nine and 14. Boyega's father, a preacher, had wanted Boyega to become a preacher too, but was supportive of his son's theatrical interests.^[5][6][7][8]

In 2003, Boyega started his secondary education at Westminster City School, where he took part in various school productions.^[9] Between 2008 and 2010, he attended South Thames College at the college's Wandsworth campus to study for a National Diploma in Performing Arts.^[10] His activities at the college included playing the title role in the college's production of Othello.^[11] He then enrolled at the University of Greenwich to study BA Film Studies & Media Writing,^[12] though he later dropped out of the course to focus on his acting career.^[6]

Career

Sundance Film Festival, 2014: John Boyega (2nd from the left), together with Josh Wiggins, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Sharon Swart (from the left to the right)

Boyega trained at the Identity School of Acting in Hackney,^[13] and appeared in Six Parties at the National Theatre and Category B at the Tricycle Theatre prior to being offered a role in the 2011 film Attack the Block.^[14][15] In September 2011, HBO announced that Boyega had been cast in the boxing drama pilot Da Brick, loosely based on Mike Tyson's life. Boyega was expected to play Donnie, who is released from a juvenile detention centre on his 18th birthday and begins to examine what it means to be a man. The pilot was written by John Ridley,^[16] but was not picked up by HBO.^[17] Also in 2011, he acted in the film Junkhearts in which he portrayed 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 front cover of that magazine in its July 2011 edition.^[18]

In March 2012, Boyega was cast in the film adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's book Half of a Yellow Sun.^[19]

On 29 April 2014, it was confirmed that Boyega had been cast as a lead character in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.^[20] It was later revealed Boyega would play Finn, a stormtrooper for the First Order, who leaves the military power after witnessing their cruelty in his first combat mission before joining the fight against them. The film was released on 18 December 2015. Both the film and Boyega's performance received acclaim from both audiences and critics.^[21][22]

Boyega has stated in an interview that he is a fan of Marvel Comics, and that he had hoped to play the Marvel character Black Panther.^[23]

In January 2016, Boyega formed his own production company, Upperroom Entertainment Limited. In June 2016, Boyega announced that his company would be co-producing the sequel to the 2013 movie Pacific Rim alongside Legendary Entertainment.^[24] Boyega will also play the lead role in the project.^[25]

In June 2016, Boyega announced that he would be starring in Kathryn Bigelow's upcoming project about the 1967 Detroit riots.^[26]

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Video games

Theme park attractions

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Boyega.

• John Boyega at the Internet Movie Database