Entertainment

Who Is John Boyega, 'Star Wars' Next Big Star?

by Alanna Bennett

It's officially official: The cast for J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: Episode VII has finally (finally) been announced. It includes Adam Driver, as was rumored, but sadly there is no Lupita Nyong'o in sight. There are also a couple relative unknowns, including one John Boyega. So who is Star Wars' John Boyega, you ask? Other than a young man who is likely about to be launched into stardom? Glad you asked.

Here is what we know about John Boyega so far:

He is a young British actor

He just turned 22 last month.

He was rumored to be in the running for a role in Terminator: Genesis

That role went to The Hunger Games/ The Spectacular Now star Dayo Okeniyi, but there seems to be no bad blood between the two.

His first listed credits are for two episodes of the British Being Human spinoff Becoming Human.

He played a kid named Danny Curtis.

He's best known for his role in 2011's Attack the Block

The film was about a group of teens in South London who have to protect their block from an alien invasion (that concept sounds about right for Star Wars). He played a kid named Moses and the film was directed by Joe Cornish, who wrote the screenplay for the upcoming Edgar Wright-directed Ant-Man movie for Marvel.

He Co-Starred With Chiwetel Ejiofor In Half Of A Yellow Sun

Thandi Newton was in the movie, too; the film followed "four people during the struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria."

And he's in 24: Live Another Day

He plays Chris Tanner and has an American accent in the series.

He's got the support of Edgar Wright, particularly because of that work in Attack the Block

In fact, a lot of people who watched that movie are already psyched for him to become a huge star

This is probably at least in part because he's already proven he's good at running with/from aliens

And he loves Emma Thompson, because he's a human with a brain and good taste

I think this means you should all go watch Attack the Block immediately

Because it's about time we get ourselves used to seeing this face everywhere

Image: Imgur, Tumblr, Tumblr