Holy Moses, it’s raining Gollums bruv!
Having done a few plays here and there, Boyega’s breakout film was the cult hit Attack The Block. In a cast full of remarkable young things, he emerged as the shining star playing Moses: a seemingly directionless leader of a gang of delinquents who becomes the unlikely hero after aliens invade his East London housing block. A teenager at the time, Boyega’s measured and powerful performance convinced everyone that they were looking at the next big action star. And they were right.
He ain’t hiding
While 99 per cent of the population rejoiced at the new and inclusive Star Wars universe J.J. Abrams was creating which – shocker – included actual people of colour and – dare we say it – women – there was a small, festering corner of the internet that called for a boycott of The Force Awakens because how dare they add diversity to a space opera. How dare they! While many stars at the centre of such controversy have shied away from addressing it directly or just politely pretended it didn’t exist, Boyega stood up to the bullies and openly called bullshit on anyone protesting over the fact that he was playing a black Stromtrooper. In an interview with V he said: “I’m in the movie, what are you going to do about it? You either enjoy it or you don’t. I’m not saying get used to the future, but what is already happening. People of color and women are increasingly being shown on-screen. For things to be whitewashed just doesn’t make sense.”
For the perfect one-two punch, he also popped this message up on Instagram. What a man, what a mighty good man (yes he is).
He still does the dishes
Think the level of Star Wars secrecy surrounding The Force Awakens is crushing you? Try being Boyega’s parents, who were so peeved that their son couldn’t reveal any details about the movie when he returned home that they punished him the only way they knew how: by making him do the dishes. All of the dishes.
One of us! One of us!
Like most living, breathing, functioning humans John Boyega grew up with Star Wars. John Boyega loves Star Wars. John Boyega lives, breathes Star Wars. Sure, he may be part of the official universe now but if his reaction to the first trailer is anything to go by he’s as much a frothy nerd as the rest of us.
Things come full circle
Post The Force Awakens, he’s next set to star alongside everyone’s imaginary girlfriend Emma Watson in the intriguing technological thriller The Circle. Based on the novel by David Eggers (Her, Where The Wild Things Are, Away We Go), it follows a young woman who lands a job at a powerful tech company where she becomes involved with a mysterious man (*whispers* please be Boyega, please be Boyega). Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Karen Gilian and Patton Oswalt round out the A-List cast.
I need a hero
A massive fan of Marvel Comics (like, who isn’t?), Boyega once stated that his dream role would be to play superhero Black Panther. Sadly he missed out on the part, with the studio going with the older Chadwick Boseman (he’s 39, Boyega’s just 23) for the role but hey – if they’re ever thinking of doing an origins story, we may know just the perfect king of Wakanda.
