John Boyega Biography

John Adedayo Bamidele Adegboyega (born 17 March 1992), who is professionally known as John Boyega, is a British-Nigerian actor, scriptwriter, and movie producer who rose to prominence in his role as Moses in the sci-fi comedy film titled “Attack the Block (2011)”. He has also gained international prominence over the years after starring in movies such as Finn in the Star Wars sequel trilogy films, The Force Awakens (2015), The Last Jedi (2017), and The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

The drama movie Imperial Dreams (2014), the historical epic The Woman King (2022), and the thriller movie Breaking (2022) are among his many credits. He was given the Trophée Chopard at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival as well as the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2016. In 2020, the New African magazine listed him as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans.

Early Life and Education

Boyega was born on March 17, 1992, in the Camberwell district of London but grew up in Peckham. His parents, Samson Adegboyega, a Pentecostal minister, and Abigail Adegboyega, a caregiver, are both of Nigerian ancestry. He is the younger of two sisters.

On November 27, 2000, Boyega and his sister Grace were among the last people to see Damilola Taylor alive; a ten-year-old Nigerian schoolboy who was killed in London, in what became one of the United Kingdom’s most high-profile killings. Two brothers—who were 12 and 13 at the time of the killing—were convicted of manslaughter in 2006. They were friends, and the Boyegas helped watch him.

He attended Oliver Goldsmith Primary School, where he had his first movie role at the age of nine, and started his secondary studies in 2003 at Westminster City School, where he participated in a number of school plays. He studied for a National Diploma in Performing Arts at South Thames College’s Wandsworth campus from 2008 to 2010. He participated in the college’s production of Othello, where he played the lead. He enrolled at the University of Greenwich to pursue a BA in media writing and film studies but left to concentrate on his acting career. When the Los Angeles branch of the Identity School of Acting opened in 2018, he became a patron after completing his acting training there.

Career

He started his acting career while he was a student at Oliver Goldsmith Primary School, where he played a leopard in his first theatrical performance. At age nine, Teresa Early, the artistic director of Theatre Peckham, a learning theatre for young people in south London, saw him perform in another production there. From the age of nine to fourteen, he spent his time there after school hours. In an interview with Sam Sanders on Fresh Air, Boyega refuted the rumour that his father wanted him to pursue a career in ministry, saying instead that his father had always encouraged his passion for acting.

Prior to being offered a part in the 2011 movie Attack the Block, Boyega performed in Six Parties at the National Theatre and Category B at the Tricycle Theatre. Boyega received his acting training at the Identity School of Acting in Hackney. According to a September 2011 HBO announcement, Boyega was cast in the boxing drama pilot Da Brick, which is largely based on the life of Mike Tyson. Boyega was expected to play Donnie, a young guy who, upon turning 18, gets let out of a juvenile prison facility and starts to consider what it means to be a man. HBO did not choose to air the pilot, which was written by John Ridley. Boyega also appeared as Jamal, a drug dealer who discovers some guns and tries to sell them, in the 2011 movie Junkhearts.

Boyega shared the magazine’s July 2011 cover with two other actors after being chosen by Fionnuala Halligan of Screen International as one of the “UK Stars of Tomorrow 2011.” He was hired for the movie version of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s book Half of a Yellow Sun in March 2012. He was officially announced as a key character in Star Wars: The Force Awakens on April 29, 2014. He portrays Finn, a First Order stormtrooper who, after witnessing their brutality, left the military power and joined in the battle against them, as was subsequently revealed. The movie premiered on December 18, 2015. Both critics and viewers praised the movie and Boyega’s performance. He repeated his role as Finn in Star Wars: The Last Jedi in 2017, the same year he acted in Detroit, Kathryn Bigelow’s drama about the 1967 Detroit riots.

Boyega established his own production company, Upperroom Entertainment Limited, in January 2016. The 2018 sequel to the 2013 film Pacific Rim: Uprising, in which he starred as Jake Pentecost, was co-produced by his firm and Legendary Entertainment. Sebastian Thiel and Boyega are developing a television series based on their shared childhood experiences, and Thiel hinted at their upcoming partnership in 2019. It was revealed in November 2018 that Boyega and Letitia Wright would feature in a Hold Back the Stars novel adaptation. Additionally, he was chosen for the Steve McQueen miniseries Small Axe.

Boyega played Finn in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker once more (2019). He admitted that while filming, he unintentionally misplaced his script in a hotel room during an interview with Good Morning America. A Lucasfilm employee purchased it when it appeared on eBay to stop it from being leaked.

Boyega responded to a tweet suggesting he take on the live-action role of the DC Comics character Static by saying he would be too old for it and would be interested in watching a rookie land the part. However, he did indicate an interest in portraying the DC superhero Red Hood.

Recent Projects

Boyega was placed in the Top 100 of the most powerful people of African or African-Caribbean descent in the UK in the Powerlist 2020 and 2021 editions. More recently, VIS Kids signed a first-look agreement with his production business, UpperRoom. He unexpectedly left mid-production of the Netflix movie Rebel Ridge, citing a family matter.

Boyega previously starred with Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, and Lashana Lynch in Gina Prince-historical Bythewood’s epic The Woman King, as well as in Netflix’s science fiction comedy They Cloned Tyrone. His upcoming projects include Breaking, the second feature film from Abi Damaris Corbin, which had its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival under the working title, “892,” and They Cloned Tyrone.

In May 2021, he reunited with Joe Cornish on a sequel to Attack the Block. 

Personal Life

The amazing British-Nigerian actor is still single and hoping to be in a committed relationship with the woman of his dreams. In a recent interview on SiriusXM’s Bevelations with the host Bevy Smith, he said he would like his potential partner to be “brown and thick.”

Furthermore, he revealed that he wouldn’t have thought of a relationship if he wasn’t approaching his 30th birthday. He said, “Well, we’ve got to be honest, you know, before I wouldn’t have said that at 27, 28. Now I’m like, “No, no, you’ve got to speak it into existence.” Brown and thick, melanin levels past 75 per cent, thick levels. You have to be looking good.

Activism and Advocacy

Boyega spoke during a Black Lives Matter protest in London’s Hyde Park and expressed support for George Floyd, Sandra Bland, Trayvon Martin, and Stephen Lawrence. Numerous celebrities praised his gesture, and Lucasfilm reaffirmed its support for Boyega and the Black Lives Matter campaign.

Boyega openly criticised Disney in a 2020 interview with British GQ for underplaying his character Finn in the Star Wars sequel trilogy: “What 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. “

Boyega is known to be a teetotaler, which means he abstains from alcohol. Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug ethanol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practises teetotalism is called a teetotaler or is simply said to be teetotal. The teetotalism movement was first started in Preston, England, in the early 19th century.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes
2022	Breaking	Brian Brown-Easley	Abi Damaris Corbin	Also producer
2022	The Woman King	King Ghezo	Gina Prince-Bythewood
2022	They Cloned Tyrone	Fontaine	Juel Taylor	Post-production
2021	Naked Singularity	Casi	Chase Palmer
2019	Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker	Finn	J. J. Abrams
2018	Pacific Rim: Uprising	Jake Pentecost	Steven S. DeKnight	Also producer
2017	The Circle	Ty	James Ponsoldt
2017	Detroit	Melvin Dismukes	Kathryn Bigelow
2017	Star Wars: The Last Jedi	Finn	Rian Johnson
2015	Star Wars: The Force Awakens	FN-2187 / Finn	J. J. Abrams
2014	Imperial Dreams	Bambi	Malik Vitthal
2013	Half of a Yellow Sun	Ugwu	Biyi Bandele
2011	Attack the Block	Moses	Joe Cornish
2011	Junkhearts	Jamal	Tinge Krishnan

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2020	Small Axe	Leroy Logan	Episode: “Red, White and Blue”
2019	Serengeti	Narrator	Voice role; 5 episodes
2018	Watership Down	Bigwig	Voice role; 4 episodes
2017–18	Star Wars Forces of Destiny	Finn	Voice role; 2 episodes
2016	Tinkershrimp & Dutch	Dutch	Voice role; 5 episodes
2015	Major Lazer	Blkmrkt	Voice role; 10 episodes
2015	Saturday Night Live	Himself	Segment: “Star Wars Auditions”
2014	24: Live Another Day	Chris Tanner	4 episodes
2013	The Whale	William Bond	Television film
2012	My Murder	Shakilus Townsend	Television film
2011	Da Brick	Donnie	Pilot
2011	Becoming Human	Danny Curtis	4 episodes
2011	Law & Order: UK	Jamal Clarkson	Episode: “Survivor’s Guilt”

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2017	Woyzeck	Woyzeck	The Old Vic, London
2009	Six Parties	Ben	National Theatre, London
2009	Category B	Reece	Kiln Theatre, London
2009	Seize the Day	Sam	Kiln Theatre, London
2009	Detaining Justice	Guard / Passer-by	Kiln Theatre, London

Podcasts

Year	Title	Role
2021	Tomorrow’s Monsters	Jack Locke

Video Games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2017	Star Wars Battlefront II	Finn	Voice
2016	Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens	Finn	Voice
2015	Disney Infinity 3.0	Finn	Voice

Theme Park Attractions

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2020	Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance	Finn	Disneyland
2019	Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance	Finn	Disney’s Hollywood Studios
2015	Star Tours – The Adventures Continue	Finn	Scene added for seasonal Season of the Force promotion

Awards and Nominations

Year	Award	Category	Project	Result
2011	Black Reel Award	Best Actor	Attack the Block	Won
		Best Breakthrough Performance		Nominated
		Best Ensemble
	British Independent Film Awards	Most Promising Newcomer
	Empire Award	Best Male Newcomer
	Evening Standard British Film Awards	Most Promising Newcomer
	London Film Critics’ Circle	Young British Performer of the Year
2015	British Academy Film Award	Rising Star Award	Himself	Won
	Empire Award	Best Male Newcomer
	Georgia Film Critics Association	Best Ensemble		Nominated
	MTV Movie Awards	Best Breakthrough Performance	Star Wars: The Force Awakens
		Best Action Performance
		Best Ensemble
	Kids’ Choice Awards	Favourite Movie Actor
	Saturn Award	Best Actor
2017	Empire Award		Star Wars: The Last Jedi
	Teen Choice Award
2020	Critics’ Choice Television Award			Won
	Golden Globe Awards
	London Film Critics’ Circle			Nominated
	Satellite Awards

John Boyega Net Worth

He has an estimated net worth of $20 million.

Social Media Handles

Instagram: johnboyega
Twitter: @JohnBoyega