The 22-year-old Boyega was born to Nigerian parents in Peckham, London. He was a performing arts student at South Thames College, where he played the lead in Othello in 2010. Boyega trained at Hackney’s Identity Drama School, and performed in various theater productions around London. In 2011 he was offered the role of Moses in Attack the Block. The film, which centers around a zombie attack on a South London estate, put Boyega on the map. He proceeded to make a name for himself in 2013’s Half of a Yellow Sun, the film adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel of the same name, and 2014’s Imperial Dreams. Boyega was even set to helm his own Spike Lee drama, Da Brick, loosely based on the life of Mike Tyson; unfortunately, HBO passed on the project. In addition to Episode VII, which he dropped out of the starring role in Race, a Jesse Owens biopic, to film, he’s currently shooting 24: Live Another Day.
As if landing the biggest role of his career isn’t enough, Boyega will be acting alongside Stars Wars’ stalwart legends. Fisher, Hamill, and Ford are all onboard to reprise their iconic roles as Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, and Han Solo inEpisode VII, which will be set thirty years after 1983’s Return of the Jedi. They’ll be joined by Boyega, Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis) Adam Driver (Girls), Daisy Ridley, (Blue Season) and Domhnall Gleeson (About Time).
Episode VII will arrive in theaters (hopefully with a real title) in December
2015. In his Tuesday afternoon statement, Abrams exclaimed, "It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud."
Boyega and his costars are probably sick of hearing “may the Force be with you”—so we’ll just stick to break a leg..
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