John Boyega

John Adedayo Bamidele Adegboyega (born 17 March 1992), known professionally as John Boyega, is an English actor and producer. He first gained recognition in Britain for his role as a teenage gang leader in the comedy horror film Attack the Block (2011) before he had his international breakthrough playing Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). During his time as a cast member of the Star Wars sequel trilogy (2017 and 2019), Boyega received the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2016, and the Trophée Chopard at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

Boyega's career continued to gain momentum in 2020 when he won a Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of Leroy Logan in Red, White and Blue, a part of Steve McQueen's anthology series Small Axe. He then played King Ghezo in the historical action film The Woman King (2022) and a drug dealer in the mystery film They Cloned Tyrone (2023).

Boyega was born on March 17, 1992, 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. He has two older sisters.

His first acting role was playing a leopard in a play at Oliver Goldsmith Primary School. While acting in another play at the school when he was nine years old, 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. 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.

In 2003, Boyega began his secondary education at Westminster City School, where he was in various school productions. From 2008 to 2010, he attended South Thames College at the college's Wandsworth campus to study for a National Diploma in Performing Arts. His activities there included playing the title role in the college's production of Othello. He enrolled at the University of Greenwich to study for a BA in film studies and media writing, but dropped out to focus on his acting career. He trained with the Identity School of Acting in London, and became a patron of its Los Angeles branch when it opened in 2018.

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, written by John Ridley, was not picked up by HBO. Also in 2011, Boyega was cast in the British drama film Junkhearts as Jamal, 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 cover of the magazine's July 2011 edition. In March 2012, he 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 was cast as a primary character in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It was later revealed that he would play Finn, a stormtrooper for the First Order, who, after witnessing their cruelty, leaves the military power and joins the fight against them. The film was released on 18 December 2015. The film and Boyega's performance were both acclaimed by critics and audiences. In January 2016, Boyega formed his own production company, UpperRoom Entertainment Limited.

In 2017, Boyega played the part of a part-time security guard in Detroit, Kathryn Bigelow's film about the 1967 Detroit riots, and reprised his role as Finn in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. In 2018, Boyega's production company co-produced (with Legendary Entertainment) 2018's Pacific Rim: Uprising, the sequel to the 2013 movie Pacific Rim, in which he played the lead role of Jake Pentecost. In November 2018 it was announced that Boyega would star with Letitia Wright in a novel adaption of Hold Back the Stars. Boyega was also cast in Steve McQueen's miniseries Small Axe.