John Boyega: 15 Quick Facts About The Nigerian-British Actor Who’s Playing Lead Role In “Star Wars”

By Ayeotan Shola

Director JJ Abrams wanted to cast relative unknowns for the new Star Wars film, and 23-year-old Nigerian-born english actor John Boyega was one of the few thespians who quite fit the bill.

He is the lead role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens but very little is known about him.

Here are five things you didn’t know about John Boyega and you can read the full story about the boy from Peckham who stormed Hollywood here.

*John Boyega who was born to Nigerian parents, Abigail and Samson had Nigerian roots.

* The actor is currently on a success streak at such a young age of 23. He was born on 17 March 1992.

* His first role was a leopard in a play at his primary school at the age of 5.

*He attended Westminster City School as a teenager. He later took part in various school productions and attended classes at Theatre Peckham.

*He was a performing arts student at South Thames College in Wandsworth and was active in theatre productions there, including the lead inOthello in 2010. Boyega also studied Film and TV at University of Greenwich.

*The English actor, is best known for playing the lead role in 2011’s Attack the Blockand and for recently playing Finn in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which has brought him international acclaim and recognition.

*John Boyega grew up on a council estate in Peckham

*Boyega grew up on a council estate in Peckham, across the road from the estate where Damilola Taylor was stabbed in 2000.

*Damilola, who was a similar age to Boyega and whose parents were also Nigerian, was discovered bleeding to death in a stairwell of North Peckham Estate just before his 11th birthday.

 

*Another of Boyega’s peers, Samuel Ogunro, was found shot in the back of the head in a burning car in Peckham in 2010, when he was 17. His murder had been “arranged” by a south London gang member who was in prison at the time.

*He started his acting career at age nine, when the artistic director of Theatre Peckham saw him act in a primary school play.

Teresa Early said: “I saw him and thought, ‘Oh, that boy has something’,” she said.

*Ms Early invited Boyega to join the theatre school, a special programme for talented children aged nine to 14.

*Boyega kept his acting talent a secret when he was younger

Even though Boyega went to drama classes and rehearsals at Theatre Peckham almost every day after school and on weekends when he was younger, friends say he kept it quiet.

*His father wanted him to be a preacher

Ms Early, who was Boyega’s drama teacher from age nine to age 14 at Theatre Peckham, said there was a “bit of a problem” over whether his parents would allow him to pursue acting as a career.

“His father was a preacher and he wanted him to be a preacher too,” she said.

*Acting classes kept him out of trouble

Boyega’s friends said the council estate in Peckham where he grew up was rough, and gangs, guns and knives were part of everyday life.

Daniel Ross, 22, a neighbour and friend of Boyega’s, said their estate had been “very, very violent” when they were teenagers.

“You would never see John on the street or hanging around gangs though,” he said. “I only saw him in church or in acting school.”