Before he won the role of Finn in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, John Boyega was an almost completely unknown actor in the United States. He had some success in his home country of Britain, for example with the alien movie Attack the Block, but Americans had yet to meet him.
Boyega knew his big break would come if he could just land the role of Finn, the ex-Stormtrooper who was one of the main characters in the highly anticipated The Force Awakens. But obviously, getting to that point was an uphill struggle, and he was running out of money. He had about £45 ($60) in the bank, barely enough money to buy food.
The actor spoke about those dark days during a conversation at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, via People. The constant auditions with director J.J. Abrams were starting to drain on him. «I had been auditioning for so long, so I felt like he kind of took away my dignity a little bit,» Boyega said. So he tried to play it cool when Abrams emailed him asking for a meeting. «I decided to pretend as if I was busy, you know, when you just pretend that you’re busy. ‘I got other stuff to do, J.J.’ In truth, he needed to get to the meeting badly, and ended up spending most of his money on getting a cab to Abrams’ location.
I had been auditioning for so long, so I felt like he kind of took away my dignity a little bit.
Luckily, he got the news he wanted when he got there. «So I go in. Each step I took, I was nervous. I was like, ‘Okay, cool.’ You know, J.J. is a phenomenal, nice guy, and if he was to tell me I didn’t get the part, he would still feed me. And so I sat down and, J.J. just said, ‘Thank you so much for coming back. I know we’ve kind of [strained] you with this amount of auditions.’ At that time, I took it upon myself to try and get another audition and go like, ‘J.J., please. Look, I can audition again. I can do British, Scottish, Nigerian, whatever. And he goes, ‘You’re [in Star Wars].‘»
That was the moment that changed Boyega’s life forever. His role in Star Wars opened other doors for him, such as roles in They Cloned Tyrone and The Woman King.
John Boyega Didn't Love Star Wars Fandom
Although Boyega was always grateful to Abrams for giving him Finn, he became disillusioned with the Star Wars fandom because of its attitudes to race. In the Apple TV+ Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Leading Men in Hollywood, he spoke out about the issue.
«Star Wars always had the vibe of being in the most whitest, elite space,» Boyega said. «…They’re okay with us playing the best friend, but once we touch their heroes, once we lead, once we trailblaze, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, it’s just a bit too much! They’re pandering!'» He’s always been critical of how Finn ended up being overlooked in the Star Wars sequels. New movies are currently planned with Daisy Ridley’s Rey front and center, but whether Boyega will return for them is still a big question.
