John Boyega is an international star who has been keeping busy over the past few years. Currently, the actor is set to appear in several upcoming action movies, including Abi Damaris Corbin’s directorial debut, Breaking. Boyega’s career is looking bright, and it turns out that the Oscar-winner Daniel Kaluuya may have played a hand in guiding the star.
Boyega revealed during an interview with Daily Beast that during the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020, he reflected on his career. “I invited Daniel Kaluuya to my house because I was thinking about a lot of stuff. We had a sit-down, and I told him everything about how I felt,” Boyega explained.
“And it was so simple, the way he reacted. He was like, ‘Yeah. You need to prioritise the work, and work with people that actually fuck with you.’ With creative collaborations, we have to find people who are on our wavelength, and then we create something good for our audience. That was one of the voices where I was like, OK, this is what I’m going to do.”
The Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi, had released in cinemas in 2019, where the actor played the Star Wars character Finn. Looking back on his experience Boyega challenged the racist treatment of his character after his role was minimised in the sequel trilogy, and realised he was “in an industry that wasn’t even ready” for him.
The advice from Kaluuya led to Boyega branching off into multiple conversations away from major franchises, such as Disney or the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This ultimately led the actor to his upcoming projects, such as Breaking, and the drama movie The Woman King – where he is set to star alongside Viola Davis.
“Breaking certainly happened during the pandemic. In The Woman King, I play a king who’s protected by some of the most ruthless female warriors out there. And for me, it was realising, ‘Oh, I’m the guy they call when they need versatility in their projects, and I need to lean into that a little bit more,'” Boyega said.
With so many roles slated for the future, it looks like Kaluuya’s advice has helped Boyega thrive happily. Fans can next see the star in the thriller movie Breaking, which hits US theatres on August 26, 2022.