John Boyega Says His Funds Were Low Before Star Wars Role

John Boyega is now a solidified actor due to his various stage, television, and film roles for more than a decade and counting. Before landing his big role in the Star Wars franchise, John Boyega shared a heartwarming story of how his finances were in a bad place before being cast as Finn in the last Star Wars trilogy.

John Boyega sat down at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo last Saturday (April 12) with Happy Sad Confused podcast host Josh Horowitz, as reported by PEOPLE. In the chat, Boyega, 33, shared that he endured a grueling auditioning process with director and producer J.J. Abrams that ended up being not for naught.

“I had been auditioning for so long, so I felt like he kind of took away my dignity a little bit,” Boyega said during the chat. “So I decided to pretend as if I was busy, you know, when you just pretend that you’re busy. ‘I got other stuff to do, J.J.,’ “

Boyega added that he pretended to be busy and attempted to brush Abrams off, saying that he was out at an art show. The reality for Boyega was that Abrams wanted to meet at a local restaurant, and Boyega was compelled to make the meeting. However, with just £45 in his bank account, which is just under $60 in USD, Boyega had to use a good amount of his funds to meet with the director.

Fearful that Abrams was setting up the meeting to tell him he didn’t get the part, Boyega began to appeal that he could audition again and rattled off the various accents he could do. However, Abrams ended all suspense by using the moment to tell Boyega that he would be appearing in the latest Star Wars films.

John Boyega would star as the defecting stormtrooper Finn alongside Daisy Ridley, who played the role of chief protagonist Rey, and Adam Driver in the role of Kylo Ren. Boyega has been critical of the Star Wars fandom, which has engaged in reported toxic behavior online over Abrams’ casting choices.

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Photo: Getty