Rising to fame as former Stormtrooper Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, John Boyega has balanced a career of blockbusters with independent films. Showcasing a range of talent in films like They Cloned Tyrone and The Woman King, Boyega doesn’t shy away from acting roles that take him out of his comfort zone.
Amongst anecdotes about his parents, Boyega spoke to an excited Toronto audience at Fan Expo Canada 2025 about his acting career and what prompted him to become a producer.
Boyega’s big break in Attack the Block
Boyega was passionate about acting from childhood. His first performance on stage was as a leopard in a school play based on the Anansi myths. As Boyega described it, “basically a Jamaican Spider-Man.” That’s what gave him the acting “bug”.
From there, Boyega would ask his parents to take him to auditions. As traditional Nigerian parents, they weren’t thrilled about the prospect of their son being an actor. “This boy about to be broke for real,” Boyega imagined his parents thinking. But despite their reservations, they continued to support him.
As a teenager, Boyega joined Identity, the first all-Black drama school in London, run by Femi Oguns. The school has launched well-known names aside from Boyega, including Marvel’s Black Panther, Letitia Wright, and F1’s Damson Idris. The school had an agency division, and the best students would receive representation to go to auditions, increasing their chances of booking roles in the UK and the U.S. But after a few classes, Boyega wasn’t getting any interest from agents.
All that changed when he met Nina Gold, the British casting director. Gold was in the process of casting for a small sci-fi film, Attack the Block. She thought Boyega would be “brilliant” in the role and could “make it to Hollywood”.
Boyega initially had his reservations. An alien film set in London didn’t sound all that appealing. But when he was told it was set in South London, it piqued his interest.
The key to the film was the chemistry between the four friends. Boyega immediately connected with Franz Drameh, also well known for playing Firestorm on The CW’s The Flash and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. The two are still friends today.
“The chemistry was really based on us really just loving the script and being excited to show a side of London that we believe people hadn't seen before.”
But while the chemistry came naturally, Attack the Block’s shooting presented challenges. They were filming in a not-so-savoury location and would sometimes be confronted by locals. Fortunately, they were well-protected by Drameh, who Boyega described as “a chill guy and then he was brave.”
When the film was released in the UK, it garnered excellent reviews. Chris Brown and Rihanna, still a couple at the time, saw the film and spread the news in the US, although the film had to be subtitled despite being in English.
The success of the film led to more roles and Boyega receiving the BAFTA Rising Star Award. According to Boyega, the award led to many phone calls from important people and kickstarted his career.
Boyega enters a galaxy far, far away
Impressing Nina Gold before the Attack the Block role led to an even bigger opportunity—Star Wars. Gold was the casting director for the sequel trilogy and she gave Boyega the chance to audition for Finn.
Boyega was a long-time Star Wars fan and fell in love with the prequel films. When a teacher told him there were more films, he couldn’t believe his luck. “I was totally engrossed in the Star Wars Universe,” said Boyega. He even started playing the games.
When he received the call to audition for Star Wars, Boyega said he “lost my mind because I was just like, I know Star Wars.” As Boyega explained to the rapt crowd, his parents didn’t have the opportunities he did. They sacrificed their own ambitions to provide for Boyega and his sisters. With that in mind, Boyega was ready to play any role, even a little alien at the back.
The audition process was nine months long but eventually, Boyega booked the role of one of the leads, Finn. He was excited to work on the film, and his excitement translated into a viral video of him watching the first trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Boyega landing a leading role should have been a time of celebration. But a few “fan” reactions to a Black man in Star Wars put a dampener on proceedings. “At that time, I was hungry, and I didn't comprehend the masses,” said Boyega.
Racist backlash sat heavy on Boyega, and he found himself going to his father with his woes. But his father responded with a simple “Why do you care? Is this not what happens to celebrities? You’re a celebrity!” That switch in perspective was all Boyega needed to remind people that he was in Star Wars, and he was going to be there for episodes 7, 8 and 9.
While the crowd cheered for this story, Boyega did add that he was careful about what he said while he was on contract for Star Wars. When people would come up to him after the trilogy was complete, complaining about how the films hadn’t done right by Finn, Boyega towed the company line by saying things like “No, no, they did the best they could.”
But once his contractual obligations were done, Boyega became more vocal about his disenchantment with the franchise and the way he was treated. Boyega felt like he became a bit of a “villain” for a while, and reached out to his Star Wars co-star Oscar Isaac. “Hey man, they're getting on to me because I'm saying some stuff I'm not supposed to say,” Boyega told Isaac. But Isaac supported Boyega’s decision and asked him to keep going.
Making the changes Boyega wants to see
So, Boyega did. Star Wars led to a new direction for Boyega. He wanted to advocate for marginalized communities in the entertainment industry. He’d used his platform to voice his thoughts, but he wanted to action them, as well.
While working on Star Wars, Boyega would often see long lines of cars with American flags arriving on set. The people in these cars would convene in a tent. Boyega, and his co-stars, Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac were left wondering who these people were. “I had to go and see what they were doing,” said Boyega. He would tell Ridley and Isaac that he would be the brave one to find out and he would report back to them.
When Boyega listened in, he found that the conversations were about what colour a lightsaber would be, or if Luke would die in a scene or not. Boyega wanted to be in that room. It made him realize something: “I wanna be in the room where I have some kind of creative say.”
So, in 2016, Boyega founded UpperRoom Productions, which produced Pacific Rim: Uprising and is set to produce a number of non-English films. But most excitingly for the Toronto crowd, the company will be producing a sequel to Attack the Block. The script has already been written, and Boyega is set to return as Moses in the film.
Boyega’s love for Star Wars and acting, and his passion for actioning great stories, was obvious during his session at Fan Expo Canada 2025. While his Star Wars future is unclear, he’s more than happy to be paving a path for himself and others like him.