John Boyega
John Adedayo Bamidele Adegboyega (born 17 March 1992), known professionally as John Boyega, is a British actor and producer. He first rose to prominence in Britain for his role as a teenage gang leader in the comedy horror film Attack the Block (2011), and had his international breakthrough playing Finn in the Star Wars sequel trilogy films The Force Awakens (2015), The Last Jedi (2017), and The Rise of Skywalker (2019). He received the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2016, and the Trophée Chopard at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
John Boyega
Boyega portrayed Leroy Logan in Red, White and Blue, as part of Steve McQueen's anthology series Small Axe (2020), for which he won a Golden Globe Award.[1] He has since starred in the historical action film The Woman King (2022) and the mystery film They Cloned Tyrone (2023).
Early life
Boyega was born in the Camberwell district of London and grew up in Peckham. His parents, Abigail (a carer) and Samson Adegboyega (a Pentecostal minister) are both of Yoruba descent.[2] He has two older sisters.[3]
His first acting role was playing a leopard in a play at Oliver Goldsmith Primary School.[4][5] While in another play there at age nine, he was noticed by Teresa Early, the artistic director of Theatre Peckham, a learning theatre for young people who live in south London. He spent his time there outside school hours from ages nine to fourteen. There was a rumour that his father wanted Boyega to become a minister, but John denied this in an interview with Sam Sanders on Fresh Air. He said that his father supported his theatrical interests.[6][7][8][9] John and his sister Grace were some of the last people to see Damilola Taylor alive: they were friends of his and the Boyegas helped look after him.[10]
In 2003, Boyega began his secondary education at Westminster City School, where he was in various school productions.[11] From 2008 to 2010, he attended South Thames College at the college's Wandsworth campus to study for a National Diploma in Performing Arts.[12] His activities there included playing the title role in the college's production of Othello.[13] He enrolled at the University of Greenwich to study for a BA in film studies and media writing,[14] but dropped out to focus on his acting career.[7] He trained with the Identity School of Acting in London, and became a patron of its Los Angeles branch when it opened in 2018.[15]