John Boyega Biography

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

Other credits include historical fiction drama film Half of a Yellow Sun (2013), four episodes of the television series ' (2014).

Early life

Boyega was born in Peckham, south London, to Nigerian parents, Abigail and Samson. His first role was a leopard in a play at his primary school. At the age of eight, Boyega and his sister were with 10-year-old schoolboy Damilola Taylor immediately prior to his notorious killing in Peckham.

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.

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

Career

Boyega trained at the Identity School of Acting in Hackney, 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. 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, but was not picked up by HBO. 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.

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

On 29 April 2014, it was confirmed that Boyega had been cast as a lead character in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It was later revealed Boyega would play Finn, a stormtrooper for the First Order, who leaves the fascist 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.

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.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Attack the Block	Moses	Black Reel Award for Best Actor Nominated - Black Reel Award for Best Breakthrough Performance Nominated - Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble Nominated - British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer Nominated - Empire Award for Best Male Newcomer Nominated - Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer Nominated - London Film Critics' Circle Award for Young British Performer of the Year
2011	Junkhearts	Jamal
2013	Half of a Yellow Sun	Ugwu
2014	Imperial Dreams	Bambi
2015	Star Wars: The Force Awakens	FN-2187 / Finn	BAFTA Rising Star Award Pending - Georgia Film Critics Association for Best Ensemble Pending - Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Breakthrough Performance Male Pending - Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Ensemble
2016	The Circle	Ty	Post-production
2017	Star Wars: Episode VIII	Finn	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Da Brick	Donnie	Pilot
2011	Becoming Human	Danny Curtis	4 episodes
2011	Law & Order: UK	Jamal Clarkson	Episode: "Survivor's Guilt"
2012	My Murder	Shakilus Townsend	Television film
2013	The Whale	William Bond	Television film
2014	'	Chris Tanner	4 episodes
2015	Major Lazer	Blkmrkt (voice)	Supporting role
2015	Saturday Night Live	Himself	Segment: "Star Wars: The Force Awakens Screen Tests"
2016	Tinkershrimp & Dutch	Dutch (voice)	Main role

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Othello	Othello	South Thames College

Video games

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

Theme park attractions

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2015	Star Tours-The Adventures Continue	Finn	Scene added for seasonal Season of the Force promotion