Major Star Wars actor only had £45 in their bank account when cast in franchise
Truly life-changing.
A major Star Wars actor has revealed that he only had £45 to his name before he became one of Hollywood’s most recognisable faces.
John Boyega, 33, started acting professionally in 2011 when he was 19 years old after being cast as gang leader Moses in the Joe Cornish sci-fi film Attack the Block.
In the subsequent years, he picked up more film and TV work, but was still struggling to make ends meet when he was cast as Finn in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Initially introduced as a storm trooper working under evil leader Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), Finn leaves to join the Resistance attempting to overthrow his former ruler.
He soon becomes friends with Rey, played by Daisy Ridley, and joins forces with Han Solo (Harrison Ford) in a bid to find the exiled Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill).
But before starring in all three of the Star Wars sequel films, including The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, John was apparently down to his last £45.
John Boyega (right) made a taxi journey that changed his life (Picture: Lucasfilm/AP)Speaking at the Comic & Entertainment Expo in Chicago, he revealed what happened when The Force Awakens’ director JJ Abrams called him to tell him he’d been cast as Finn.
‘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, JJ,” [but then] he goes “Where are you?”‘
John, who lied about being at an art show in Greenwich when he got the call from the Lost creator and Star Trek director, then got the invitation that changed his life.
John used 75% of his last funds to get the taxi to JJ Abrams (Picture: Lucasfilm/AP) John was called by JJ (right) from a restaurant in Mayfair (Picture: Bafta/Getty)‘[He said], “I’m in Mayfair at a restaurant – I need to talk to you now, and we’ll talk about something important”. So I [told him] I was gonna be right there.’
As revealed in 2018, John wasn’t actually at an art show – he was at home in Catford with a female acquaintance. He hopped in a Hackney cab to be taken 10 miles to Mayfair.
He then recalled that he had to do some vital sums in his head: ‘At the time I had £45 in my account. It took £33 and 83p to get to JJ. Do the math.’
Despite worrying that he was being called to Mayfair to be told he hadn’t landed the part after rounds and rounds of auditions, John was almost immediately told he was ‘in Star Wars’.
John starred as Finn in three sequel Star Wars movies (Picture: Disney/Lucasfilm/AP)Alongside Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, and Oscar Isaac, John became one of the leading faces of the new films, which grossed over $4billion (£3.04m) at the global box office.
John eventually claimed that, despite being the face of Star Wars initially, his character Finn was ‘pushed aside’ for The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.
John told GQ: ‘You get yourself involved in projects and you’re not necessarily going to like everything. [But] what I would say to Disney is do not bring out a black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are, and then have them pushed to the side.
‘It’s not good. I’ll say it straight up. [They] knew what to do with Daisy Ridley [and] Adam Driver. But when it came to Kelly Marie Tran, when it came to John Boyega…’
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