John Boyega

Boyega in 2015, photo by PrPhotos

Birth Name: John Adedayo Bamidele Adegboyega

Place of Birth: Lambeth, London, England, U.K.

Date of Birth: 17 March, 1992

Ethnicity: Yoruba Nigerian

John Boyega is a British actor, voice actor, and producer. His roles include the films Attack the Block, Junkhearts, Half of a Yellow Sun, Imperial Dreams, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and its follow-ups, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker; The Circle, Detroit (2017), Pacific Rim Uprising, Naked Singularity, Breaking (2022), The Woman King, and They Cloned Tyrone; the series Becoming Human, 24: Live Another Day, Major Lazer, Tinkershrimp & Dutch, Star Wars Forces of Destiny, Watership Down, Serengeti, and World War II: From the Frontlines; the made-for-tv movies The Whale (2013) and Small Axe: Red, White and Blue; the video games Disney Infinity 3.0, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Star Wars Battlefront II; and the theme park attractions Star Tours – The Adventures Continue and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.

He is the son of Abigail, a carer, who works with the disabled, and Samson Adegboyega, a Pentecostal preacher. His parents are Nigerian.

He has said:

My dad is a minister and my mum is a worker with the less fortunate and the disabled. They’re Nigerian natives. Their first language is Yoruba, and their second language is English. My mum and dad moved to London when they had my eldest sister. They started a life in London as immigrants, and they built up from there. They’re no actors in my family, but there are definitely animated black people in my family. My dad’s a Pentecostal minister, meaning that he’s full of charisma. If he’s telling a story about Noah’s ark, you best know each tiger is going to be having their own little conversation and narrative.

John’s maternal grandfather’s surname was Aboderin.