- Hi, I'm John Boyega.
And this is the Wired auto complete interview.
[upbeat music]
Huh, these people are really Googling out here.
[upbeat music]
What is John Boyega?
Do I reveal?
Known for?
I feel like I'm known for "Attack the Block"
to some people and "Star Wars" to most
cause I've done a little film called "Star Wars."
It was an indie, low budget, not a lot of funding
but a lot of people know it for some reason.
So, I say, "Star Wars."
What is John Boyega doing now?
Well, right now I'm doing press for three movies
"Breaking," "The Woman King," and "They Cloned Tyrone."
But in my free time, I'm going on dates.
I'm going go karting
spending time with friends
and going to parties.
What is John Boyega's next movie?
I actually don't know.
I'm kind of waiting for these three to come out
so someone can see it and then give me a job next year.
Honestly, that's just how it works, guys.
You just gotta do projects,
everyone sees it, and then the next year.
But the savings are correct.
I've got enough in the savings.
John Boyega what's
in the box?
Oh!
[laughs]
All right, we need to do a part two to this.
Me and Gwen, right?
I think that's what everyone's referring to.
Yeah, me and Gwen done this silly, silly show
called "What's in the Box" where we had to basically
put our hands in the box and feel lizard, spiders,
and all different types of critters.
Good times I miss you, Gwen.
What school did John Boyega go to?
I went to an amazing school called
Westminster City for boys.
[fart sound]
[laughs]
I didn't like secondary,
well, we call it secondary school.
You lot call it high school.
I didn't enjoy it.
I enjoyed college.
I enjoyed university.
And I enjoyed primary school prior to that.
But high school for me was like, "I have no money."
I couldn't afford the sneakers that everybody had.
I didn't have the clothes to fit in and stuff.
So, I was just like, "Ah."
But then it got to college.
College is when I sprout.
[laughs]
[board hits floor]
Does John Boyega...
Oh, I'm getting worried now.
Does John Boyega have tattoos?
Yeah, I do.
I didn't show them much.
I've had tattoos for a long time people.
I just, yeah, I just wasn't showing them a lot.
So, whenever people see my arms, they're like, "Oh!"
But yeah I have a few tattoos, yeah.
This is a tattoo that I got in representation of my sisters.
My two older siblings, Blessing and Grace.
And then my love for wolves and horse riding.
The synergy in family is so important to me.
And wolves naturally have that synergy in family
obviously they roll in packs but the love between them.
My siblings, Blessing, Grace, and John,
are represented by three cubs with one wolf,
with their breath, going into a horse.
I design all my tattoos.
I sketch and draw and give it to the artists.
So, it's just something like a binding tattoo
to remind me of the love between me, Blessing, and Grace,
my two older sisters who I love dearly.
I love ya.
And when you lot getting yours?
Cus I'm sick and tired of being the only one.
Does John Boyega have an Oscar?
I do.
I have an Oscar Isaac.
- [Director] What's the most meaningful recognition
you have received?
- The most meaningful so far
is my statue at Madam Two Souls.
That is cool.
And I've been seeing some pictures, people uploading
going to see this, the wax figure that's been real cool.
Does John Boyega watch anime?
Yeah, I do.
I watch "Attack on Titan."
I watch "Naruto."
I watch "One Piece."
I'm on "Demon Slayer" right now, which I'm enjoying.
I definitely think the style of storytelling for anime
is something that other genres can't particularly capture.
But I think that's what anime is for.
I think anime also the story, the story, sometimes a lot
of these stories last over 10 years, like you you're
with one character for a long amount of time.
Apart from TV, it's very hard to see that kind
of content out there too.
Also it's the seriousness and depth in anime.
It's 2D, but you have emotions
for the characters as if they actually
they have oxygen and blood running through their veins.
So, it's a unique style of storytelling
that I really, really love.
And a lot of people do too.
Does John Boyega work out?
At the moment, no.
Know what, I want this belly to hang off for a little bit.
I realized soft and muscular,
a little bit of dad bod, a little bit of lean
and that's what I'm on right now.
And then when I get a role that requires me to
be like, Spiderman get that Tom Holland body going on,
then I'll change.
But right now I'm on a break.
- [Director] Did I ever read that you had some unusual
names for the equipment?
- Dumbbells, chicken drumsticks.
The plates, call them pizza stacks.
When you see a pizza stacked on top of each other
I recognize that if I go to the gym,
calories has to be a part of my workout
in some way because I really like eating
and I sometimes hate dieting
So, I just call the equipment
That's meant to make me look good food that I like.
So, pizza and drumsticks.
And the barbells, I call lollipop.
Cause you know,
you know what I mean?
But that's just me, guys. I'm weird like that.
[Boom]
All right.
All right, this is what people are Googling.
Who John Boyega.
What? People just don't fill out the words.
Who is John Boyega?
Why did a person Google this?
What they had seen me and then was like,
"Oh, who is, oh yeah, yeah."
They probably saw me in a trailer
and said, "Who is that?"
Well, hi guys. I'm John.
I'm an actor.
I'm a producer.
And I'm just a young 30 year old man.
Who does John Boyega play in "Star Wars?"
I will act as if I am not slightly offended
by that question.
But I play a guy called Finn, FN-2187.
Who's a storm trooper turned rebel.
If you haven't watched it now, bloody hell.
I think people underappreciated his lineup in episode nine.
If you recognize episode seven and eight,
Finn's hair, he ain't had no lineup.
Nine I got that sorted for you guys.
And then no one gave the character props for that.
So, I have a problem. They didn't appreciate his hairstyle.
Who does John Boyega support?
[lips flapping]
Mom, dad, wait, wait, is this financial support
or is this just moral and that?
[laughs]
I support a whole bunch of people.
I support some young people through
via converse and my filmmaking scheme.
I support some young people at Damilola Taylor center
down in the UK, done a few charities and stuff.
And then I financially support mom and dad.
Mom, Dad, just send me the email
when you want me to buy you something.
Who is John Boyega dating?
We've going on a few dates actually.
I've actually, I have time to actually go
out on dates and go on dinners, went to one yesterday.
Nailed it.
Let's see if I get a second one.
See how she feels.
So I'm gonna let you guys know
in the next interview, but she was fine.
What I like about being single is
that you're given the time to do the work
the individual work to work on yourself
get your yourself in order.
Get your mind right.
You have the freedom to do for self,
which I think is important.
All right.
Is John Boyega, is John Boyega in "Kenobi?"
No, definitely not in "Kenobi" because Finn is not alive
in terms of the cannon and the timeline.
I love it.
I love everyone.
I've been loving it.
I've been having fun with that.
I think it's cool.
I like the fact that Hayden is back,
which is fun to see my guy Anakin.
You know and Anakin's one of my faves.
So, I'm enjoying it.
Is John Boyega Nigerian.
[laughs]
What kind of question is that?
Can you not see the back of my head, the shape of my head?
You can all tell when you got in Nigerian brother.
I'm definitely Nigerian.
Actually I have dual citizenship.
So, I have a passport in the UK and I have a passport
in Nigeria since birth.
So, yeah, I'm a fully Nigerian. Yeah.
Is John Boyega still acting?
Who the hell put this in?
Absolutely. A lot of people do ask me that though.
And I understand because it takes us a long time to
film the projects.
But just remember guys, before we bring out the projects
I have to film them.
So, it took me two years to film these three projects
that come out this year.
So, yeah, it takes a long time, but yeah, I am still acting.
Thank you for asking.
Is John Boyega nice?
Yeah, yeah, of course.
Yeah. Nice.
Can't be starting no problems.
If you start a problem with me, however,
but in general I'm nice. Yeah. I'm cool.
Welcome.
[board hits floor]
How John Boyega,
how to pronounce John Boyega.
John
bo-ye-ga.
Bodega but then just add that y.
For everyone in New York.
How old is John Boyega?
I just turned the big three oh.
But obviously fanboy, no pimple, young face.
And then you can look like you're still
in your twenties like me.
Thinking my thirties-
Well, I'm saying in my thirties
like I've been here for a minute,
but in terms of just getting here
and the information I've been hearing
from a lot of other 30 year olds that
I've been kind of like listening to,
you do things more on purpose.
You have much more of an intuition about what you want.
And I'm looking forward to that more and more.
How did John Boyega become an actor?
From primary school I did performing art stuff
and I wasn't good at much else.
I tried football.
It was all social circles, I tried to get into the
football group, couldn't do that.
I tried to be a part of the highly academic group.
You know, the A Star students, couldn't do that.
Tried to be part of the nerds, got too bored.
Couldn't do that.
Then I saw all the performing arts
people doing contemporary dance and tap
and they accepted me and I said,
"Oh, I'm a theater kid."
So, I joined that group.
And then from there I got a corp opportunity
with a scholarship to Theater PCCA.
So, I'm quite lucky I was helped.
- [Director] Did I read that your first role was a leopard?
- First of all, I don't like the way you asked that question
as if that isn't one of my most known roles.
This is obviously I'm very famous for my first role.
My starring role actually as the leopard
in the Anansi Spider-Man stories,
which is based off of the old folktale Jamaican books.
I played the leopard, which is you guys wanna see this
his turn in, this is ridiculous.
I would say better than anything I've done before.
And that's "Star Wars" included. All of them.
My first gig.
How tall is John Boyega?
Always wanted to answer this.
Guys, it is five 10.
I reached the average.
All these five sevens, five sixes and eights
that I've been hearing about
is not true.
Five 10. I reached the average.
And if I straighten up my back, I can even get more.
Apart from that, I feel like I'm a good person.
So, hopefully my height doesn't stifle anything.
[laughs]
[boom]
All right, that's it guys.
Obviously, I'm so shocked to hear that you
guys are so intrigued by me.
And I'm thankful for your continuous support.
Anyway, next time.
Wired.
[upbeat musics]