- John Boyega.
It is so good to meet you, man.
Somebody who is as passionate and effective
at speaking truth to power in real life, as he is in film.
And we see that in full display in 'Red, White and Blue,'
as part of Steve McQueen's 'Small Axe' anthology.
Wonderful piece.
What made you say yes to this project?
- You said it right, Steve McQueen.
That was the first thing that made me say yes.
I was at a crossroads.
Obviously, I've been doing the franchise for so long
and after everything finishing, I was kind of like,
"OK, what do I do next?"
And in considering that, Steve McQueen calling up my agent,
saying he wanted to have lunch
in Central London to discuss a role.
I was like,
"This is who I need to be working with."
When I knew he was doing 'Red, White and Blue,'
I was like, "All right, I'm down to do it."
- When you're thinking about exploring range
and thinking about the versatility of this character,
what does it take for John Boyega
to put on a police uniform?
'Cause you've got this character
that makes this difficult decision to join the police force
against his dad's wishes.
How do you go through that?
Are you thinking about personal experiences
or are you putting yourself, personally,
in the mind of Leroy Logan?
- I'm more of a submissive kind of actor,
in a sense that I give the role domination.
And, you know,
I have a vessel-type approach,
in which the role dominates all,
especially if you're playing someone who's still alive
and Leroy Logan is still about.
He's still very much a community man,
still a part of many pieces of the jigsaw puzzle,
in terms of instigating change.
So, I'm like, you know, "I have to show OG some respect,
and know what he went through, and understand his mind.
You know, what he - 'cause certain scenes are so intricate,
Steve McQueen's projects are essentially character-study sometimes.
I let the role determine how I should fill it first,
before going into the pot of personal experience.
Let's use personal experience as, like, a retainer account, you know?
- Mmm.
- When things get a bit too intense,
then I'll lock into, to me. You know?
- What I loved a lot about this piece, too,
is that you see the maturation of this character
because it starts off with him as a child.
And it kinda formed this idea
that people don't become who they are by osmosis.
It's their experiences that inform how they think -
- Oh yeah.
- Yeah, and how they move through life -
- A combination of various, yeah.
It's a melting pot. - Yeah, yeah.
Why'd you think it was so important for, and powerful
for this to open up with him as a child?
- It showed the way in which this kid identified
these officers, and for me, made his decision to join them
even way more profound.
Especially joining them after what your father
has been saying all this time about them has proven true,
in terms of two police officers now beating him up
and, you know, reducing him down to a slave,
in a sense, by treating him in that way.
The various pieces of who this guy is,
I think that's a part of his motivation.
He doesn't want another kid,
another well put-together, well-educated kid
with a trumpet or whatever in his hand,
to be stopped and searched, you know?
He wants there to be a fairness.
And I think that it was important,
those moments in his young life,
it was important to show that
because that shows how long this obstacle
has been around. That even in his childhood,
he faced the same obstacles until he had to grow up
to become a man.
And join that same institution to try and,
you know, motivate some kind of change.
- You know, it's so funny, I can't help
but see the parallels between the character you play
and who I see of John Boyega in real life.
You know, your character fights
back against the racism he's experiencing at work
in the police force.
And I see a parallel of what you're doing in Hollywood,
being honest about your experiences with racism,
with discrimination within this industry.
Specifically, that speech you gave at the BLM rally
in Hyde Park,
where you spoke truth to power and said,
"This could damage my career, but I don't care right now."
But, you spoke anyway.
What made you speak anyway?
- My best friend, her aunties, her mom,
people that have taken me in
all live out in the [United] States.
People who have, like, helped me on my journey,
given me places to stay all live out there,
are all vulnerable to these kind of challenges.
Most of my family, my blood family, are in Nigeria,
I’m a dual citizen out there, in Lagos, in Ibadan,
in these areas where things are going down.
It is, you know, speaking truth to power.
But, at the same time,
it's a cry for help, in a sense.
It's a cry for help.
It's like a chorus of trying to just get people aware of
a certain type of pain, you know?
Because we - as much as I'm in this position,
I still have people that, you know, are still in my life.
You know, I love with my whole heart.
So, regardless of it being, like, you know, "I don't care,"
I have to speak about something that is just so important
to me. Because even if I had my success,
and let's say those people have become victims
to the challenges that they're facing in the States, here
and in other places or parts of the world,
how would I then feel,
being in my position, that I never said anything?
I never did anything.
So, it's like,
there's a part of me just trying to do the little
that we can do in this position.
- You know, my heart is with you and your family in Nigeria
with the #EndSARS movement that's happening right now.
And it comes together to make me think
about how important it is for every member
of the Black diaspora to stand in solidarity
when these things happen.
Why do you think it's important for folks, all over the world,
of color to stand together in moments like this?
- Super important.
My journey, specifically,
I just thank God for my path
because, obviously, I'm here from the U.K.
And then, to expand my career,
I had to travel over to the States.
When I went out to the States,
I actually lost my Airbnb accommodation at the time,
and ended up meeting who is now my best friend at a party.
And she was like, "Yo, you can come and stay at mine and
"I will take you to auditions from my place."
And her place was in Inglewood.
So, rather than staying in West Hollywood,
I was staying in Inglewood for a good couple of months
with my friend. I met her family, we went out to all the parties together.
In sharing my experiences as a Black, British guy
and those guys sharing their experiences,
there was that exchange.
And then I fly out - You know,
I've been traveling over to Nigeria.
My young cousins, brothers, friends, they have worked
in Nigeria for a good couple months, you know?
So, in going out there and meeting people there,
in my experience, we are very similar.
We are very, very similar in terms of, like, global experience.
I know we all have our unique lineage,
which we respect and love,
but our similarities are so special.
We can still get together and know
that we are part of one, global Black community.
- I can't help but hear this echo,
as you're speaking now, from the film,
when your aunt says, "Yo, you have to leverage your talents
"for something bigger than yourself.
"You're not meant to just sit in a lab with a lab coat."
- Yeah. - Do you ever feel like your platform
lends itself to that same advice?
- Yeah, it's, like, much like in the protest,
one of my biggest emphasis was family.
One of my biggest emphasis was Black men,
leadership in the family,
the way in which we raise our children.
The kind of care, love, and attention
we give them, having a more educated view
on how we approach all of this.
And for me, given 'Red, White and Blue'
and the influences behind that, of course, you know,
many of this dialogue was inspired by very intricate,
detailed conversations with Steve.
Conversations that would have you in tears.
Conversations that had me hugging him.
"I didn't even know you experienced that, Steve."
Steve’d be like, “I didn’t even know you experienced that.”
Various lines that were put in there
were based on conversations that happened prior to shooting.
Then, Steve said, "What was that?"
He goes, "Put that in.
"You say that. Say that.
"That is what, that's what we mean."
So, it's, like, having that approach,
your life will inform, in some ways, inform,
and these conversations informed the character, as well.
- Well, before I let you go,
I've gotta ask about another line in the script
that had me dying laughing. When you and your best mate,
I think it's your cousin, you call her your best friend in there -
- Mhm. - She said, "You're thinking of joining the force?
"What, you want to become a Jedi or something?"
- Yeah, yeah. (Laughs)
- Did you know that line was gonna be in there?
How did that go?
- Yeah, I did. And I still don't understand my reaction 'til today, guys.
I wish I could tell you.
But, the only thing I thought to myself was,
"Am I supposed to have a problem with this line?"
Is there supposed to be, like - is a
professional actor supposed to say,
"Uh, Steve, this feels a bit heads on with this."
But, I just was like, "Come on, man. Have fun in it.
"Whatever." You know?
- Right, right.
Did you ever think that 'Star Wars' would be a film
that would continue to follow you in this way?
- Yeah, no, no.
I love it.
When it’s used in this way,
I think it's cool.
Because I've actually grown up watching other actors
have those moments,
and I'm like, "Yeah, man. That's cool to have that."