Is John Boyega the Next Hollywood A-Lister?

Blog Post #23

John Boyega in Attack the Block

In the Screenrant piece by Kate Gardner Why Star Wars’ John Boyega is the Next Big Hollywood A-Lister she writes:

As Boyega continues to gain more and more fame for roles outside of Finn, we could be watching the birth of Hollywood’s next big star, in the vein of leading men such as Will Smith, Tom Cruise, and George Clooney. 

Boyega’s got the talent to stand alongside any of these stars, and he should be recognized for that. Attack the Block showed off his capability as a leading man back in 2011. His turn as Moses, a teenager who must stop an alien invasion, was subtle and powerful. His work in the film is a master class in subtlety, especially for the then nineteen-year old’s first major role. It would have been easy to turn the role into something showy or flashy, but Boyega reigned it in and delivered a performance that was genuine and powerful in how quiet it was. It was Boyega’s work in that film that caught the eye of JJ Abrams, who was rumored to be Boyega’s biggest champion during the audition process for The Force Awakens. 

Attack the Block is of course where I first saw Boyega and I was blown away by his screen presence–at such a young age. Young actors can be very good, but it takes a rare talent to have presence AND be the Lead of the story. Boyega had both. I've been following his career ever since as indciated by the posts on this blog. I wrote a full review of Attack the Block for the 'Nother Brother Entertainment blog here and Gardner goes on to write a compelling argument about why Boyega is the next big thing at Screenrant here

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Finn's Backstory Revealed in Star Wars Related Book

There's a lot of talk in the black filmgoing community about the mystery that is Finn (John Boyegea) in the new Star Wars films. Much of it was excellently elaborated in the piece Why John Boyega As Finn Is One Of The Best New Characters In Star Wars, but below is excerpts from actual canon Star Wars materials, meaning it's really related to the franchise and not "fan fiction" etc. It's from the below book

I haven't read it, but someone on imgur has and put the info their site. You can read their info below. WARNING: Spoilers and Explicit Language

Star Wars Meta/Spoilers: Finn & The Stormtroopers

by imgur

Stop here if you are one of the 3 people yet who haven't seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Greg Rucka’s Star Wars novel Before the Awakening is A) Quite good and B) Explains much about Finn’s stormtrooper training and social circle leading up to the movie. 

In a nutshell: 

- Finn was trained in a squad of four boys: Him (FN-2187), Nines, Zero and Slip. 

Nines and Zero have nicknames based on their alphanumerical designations (Zero’s is FN-2003, Nines ended in 9s, etc.). Slip was called slip because he was a fuckup. 

- Turns out, most troopers have nicknames

- Why does FN-2187 not have a nickname? Because nobody really likes him. An older trooper tells him straight to his face: he’s an outsider. It just happens to some troopers. 

- Why is this extra tragic? Is it because Finn’s a shitty trooper? NO. He’s actually top of his little trooper class. He’s the fucking bomb -- with a blaster, with tactics, with hand-to-hand weapons. Phasma’s got extremely high expectations for him. (what a fuckin mary sue amirite)

- So why is this actually extra tragic? What’s Phasma’s one problem with him? Finn cares too much. He cares about keeping his squad alive.

- He cares about going back for his friends more than the mission objective SOUND FAMILIAR? 

- So Phasma tells him to stop coddling Slip or face consequences. He does. 

- And then: the skirmish on Jakku. A trooper dies and Finn loses his final shred of faith in the First Order. Who is that trooper? SURPRISE IT IS SLIP. Basically Finn’s brother, even if he never really fit in with his squad.

- And then: the first thing Poe does is give him a nickname based on his alphanumerical designation JUST LIKE HIS TROOPER FAMILY, NINES AND ZERO AND SLIP, WHO NEVER LIKED HIM ENOUGH TO GIVE HIM ONE. 

FN-2199 aka TR-8R

IN CONCLUSION the trooper in the gifset above who recognizes Finn on sight (and who has been meme-nicknamed TR-8R) is likely Zero or Nines. (It was confirmed by StarWars.com that "TR-8R" is indeed FN-2199 aka Nines-Cool Black)

RELATED
 Why John Boyega As Finn Is One Of The Best New Characters In Star Wars

Why Finn Will Probably Become A Jedi In Star Wars Episode 8

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Why John Boyega As Finn Is One Of The Best New Characters In Star Wars

For the Love of FN-2187: Why John Boyega as Finn is One of the Best New Characters in Star Wars
by Jamal Igle, The Nerds of Color
December 23, 2015

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a juggernaut. Critically acclaimed and the current holder of the title of “biggest film opening of all time.” It’s an engaging film that engrosses the viewer and harkens back to the early days of franchise. As it is with all things pop culture, particularly in the age of internet piety, the film also has its detractors. The complaints range across the spectrum but one of the most pointed complaints have been towards Finn, the character portrayed by British actor John Boyega. Two writers whom I’m good friends with — Hannibal Tabu and Joe Illidge — have both written pieces complaining about the character for similar reasons, calling him inept, and even neutered. (Linked at the bottom of this article)

I love you guys, you know I do, but I couldn’t disagree with you more. Now this is going to be a rather spoiler filled piece, so if you haven’t seen the movie, now’s your time to hit the eject button and go look at Buzzfeed.

Hannibal in particular said: “You literally were good for nothing. Failed janitor, sent to fight. Failed fighter, ran away … why exactly? What prompted your crisis of conscience? Script doesn’t care, so why should I?”

Finn — or as we’re introduced to him in the opening scene of the film by his identification number FN-2187 — was raised to be a Stormtrooper. During a village raid on the desert planet of Jakku, Finn has a crisis of conscience and refuses to fire on a group of captured prisoners. Deciding that he had to leave The First Order but needing a pilot, he decides to free captured resistance fighter Poe Dameron. There’s an instant rapport between the two as they make their escape and Poe gives him his new moniker while they’re escaping.

Finn is a character without an identity when we first meet him. One of the many faceless drones amongst The First Order, Finn is the first Stormtrooper we ever see remove his helmet in any of the films. We’re witnessing a birth in a way. All he wants to do is get away from the people who have oppressed him, as far as possible and never return. He’s never known a life outside of being a Stormtrooper, the mission on Jakku possibly being the first time he’s seen actual combat. What he saw shocked him so much, it shook his programming and for the first time, he saw things for what they truly were. That was the first step into a larger world, to coin an appropriate phrase.

Many of the complaints about Finn seem to stem from people who were disappointed that he seemed to be useless in their eyes. Much of it, I suspect is based on the speculation leading up to his role in the overall narrative. We’d seen so many images before the movie hit theaters of Finn wielding Anakin Skywalker’s original blue lightsaber, there was a natural assumption that he would turn out to be the spiritual successor to Luke Skywalker. However, we didn’t get that since that role was to go to Daisy Ridgley’s Rey. No, with Finn we got the successor to another popular Star Wars icon, Han Solo.

Like Han, Finn is our everyman. He is the entry point hero we follow through the story. Like Han, Finn is normal. He’s not royalty, nor a superpowered force wielder. In fact, until being handed a lightsaber by Maz Kanata, he’d never even seen one outside of Kylo Ren’s. He’s a guy, trying to escape his past, who keeps being drawn back to doing the right thing. He fights his fears to save Poe, then later Rey.

People forget that Han Solo spent the majority of both Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back trying to leave the Rebellion. Han wasn’t a hero, he didn’t want to go on the Death Star to rescue Leia until the promise of a reward was placed in front of him. He was ready to leave before the Battle of Yavin but came back because he knew it was the right thing to do. In spite of that, he fell into the role of leader, not out of duty, but love. Love for Leia and Luke, yet even in the beginning of Empire, he was still planning on leaving since the bounty on his head was so high there was nowhere for him to hide. Han wasn’t a particularly great shot, or an expert pilot. He had the fastest ship, only by default. He wasn’t naturally brave, and was captured by the Empire, frozen in carbonite, and mounted on Jabba’s wall. The thing that made Han popular was his everyman quality. He was the one character in the original trilogy who was the skeptic. He didn’t believe in The Force, calling it simple tricks and nonsense. Like Finn, Han fought his instinct to run to do the right thing.

As we get to know Finn, we discover who he was. He was a nameless drone who worked in sanitation. Funny, charismatic in his way and much to his surprise, brave. What makes Finn work for me as a character is that in spite of the fact that he’s not the Super-Negro a lot of potential viewers were hoping for; instead, Finn ends up being the hero. When Rey is down, he steps forward, lightsaber in hand to take on Kylo Ren. The Resistance is only able to take down Starkiller Base because Finn knows his way around, providing them with the critical information to not only get past their shields but to destroy the reactor.

There’s a quote that I like: “Being brave doesn’t mean you are not scared. It means you are scared but you do what has to be done anyways.”

That is what makes Finn work for me. It helps that John Boyega is, like Harrison Ford before him, incredibly engaging and affable in the role. I look forward to seeing his character grow over the series, to embrace his role in the story no matter how it shakes out.

Not every black hero has to be Wesley Snipes in Passenger 57, kicking everyone’s ass with a quip and a smile. Sometimes it’s good to see an unsure man becoming something more than he was. Sometimes it’s good to see the hero stumble, fall, and then get up again.

ADDITIONAL
Hannibal Tabu article
Joe Illidge article 

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2011 Interview with John Boyega

Capone comes correct with ATTACK THE BLOCK's John Boyega (aka Moses)!!!

by Capone, Aint It Cool News

Published at: July 27, 2011, 11:04 a.m. CST 

Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here.

Like most of the kids in writer-director Joe Cornish's ATTACK THE BLOCK, the leader known as Moses can approximate the behaviors of an adult thug, but there are all-too-frequent reminders that he is nothing more than a 15-year-old kid, living under terrible circumstances in a system designed to either ignore him as a developing human being or pay him special attention as a potential criminal because he's poor and black.

The actor who plays Moses is the now-19-year-old John Boyega, and he has an intensity to him that I think will serve him well as a growing actor. If you've seen the film, you'll not likely forget his portrayal of Moses; if you haven't, you don't know what you're missing. But the film opens this Friday, so you have a chance to find out.

The night before our interview, I moderated a Q&A with Boyega and Cornish, and a woman in the audience compared Boyega to a young Denzel Washington, both in terms of his looks and abilities. Boyega confessed it wasn't the first time the comparison had been made and rightfully so. I found John to be extremely forthcoming and clear about his love of acting and intent on sticking with it. That's good news for all of us. I can also tell you that this interview took place just days before Cornish, Boyega, and ATTACK THE BLOCK executive producer Edgar Wright took the Hall H stage at Comic-Con, and John was extremely excited about hitting San Diego. Please enjoy John Boyega…


Capone: Good to see you again. Forgive me if we cover some of the same ground we covered last night.

John Boyega: Yeah, no problem.

Capone: But yeah, there are some bare essential things I want to make sure we get on the record, because I don’t like to bring the recorder to the Q&A. I want you guys to feel like you can say whatever you want.

JB: Cool, cool.

Capone: First of all, can I ask how old you are?

JB: I’m 19.

Capone: Okay, so when you made the film you were fairly close in age to Moses.

JB: Yeah, I was 17 and I turned 18 on set.

Capone: So what got you interested in acting? How long have you been doing it?

JB: It’s been a God-given thing since birth, something that has always been in me. So, when I went to primary school, I just started acting and I just thought I really enjoyed it. So from there, one thing led to another, and I find myself here talking to you in America. [Laughs] That’s a shorter version of what happened, but you get the gist.

Capone: So what sort of act were you doing before you were spotted in that play by the casting director?

JB: I was in youth drama groups. I trained at Identity Drama School, which is a drama school back home and primarily they have an agency that's part of IAG [Identity Agency Group]. So, I was training there twice a week and I was just doing like local youth events and performing for people at charities and performing little plays in church on Sunday and all of those kinds of things.

Capone: Was the play that you were spotted in something a little more professional, or was that more along the lines of what you were doing?

JB: That was my first job at the Tricycle Theatre. That was my first job as an actor, and I got it through my agent. I did two auditions for the part, but I was only on stage for 10 minutes. So Joe came in with Nina Gold, the producer, and watched me in that and wanted me to audition for this sci-fi film.

Capone: Did they give you a script or just give you some pages? How did that go?

JB: Do you know what? The first time I heard about it was on one of those free casting websites, you know like Star Now?

Capone: I don’t know about that one, but I know what you are talking about.

JB: If you go online as an actor, you search for open auditions, and they explained that it’s an alien invasion set in South London. I thought it was going to be incredibly crap, but, “You know what? For the education, let me go up for it.” I didn’t get a professional audition, but then my agent called me and said, “Hey, we got an audition for ATTACK THE BLOCK.” I was like “Oh? Okay. I had thought about that, yeah let’s do it.” But then after my first audition, I got the script and I absolutely fell in love with it. I think it was absolutely amazing. I read it like three times in a row that night just to see what kind of stuff the character I could possibly play, what kind of stuff he did. That was really fun for me.

Capone: When you read the script did you know you were trying out for Moses or did you think you were coming in for one of the kids.

JB: At first it was Youth #1, Youth #2, and then it changed from Youth #1 to “Moses,” and then at the end me and Franz Drameh, who plays Dennis, we were both going up for Moses. So, we knew that we were going up for Moses or whatever, but we slowly kind of dispersed into our own individual characters based on our auditions.

Capone: So what were some of the things that you added to Moses for your audition?

JB: I created Moses from scratch. I created him from scratch. I thought him up and I brought him to life. I didn’t get much in terms of the material of the in-depth feeling The dialogue was straightforward that he was strong, he was silent, but that’s not enough. There’s a whole story going on there, so it was something I had to create and I had to do it from scratch. It was a long, long process during the audition process then straight to rehearsal process and still finding new things while we were filming, you know? I did quite a lot on that one.

Capone: You mentioned last night and I still find it incredibly great that you chose to do this, that you pulled elements from some of the characters from "The Wire." At what point did that happen in the process, and what things did you pull specifically?

JB: When I had the first audition and I had the callback, I got notes on my first audition, and the notes were that I played it a bit too over the top. And the reason why I did it, I did it so angry and in your face kind of raw acting. I didn’t like that, because we’ve never had an urban film--and you can quote me on this--we've never had an urban film which has ideally stripped the characters of their shielded arrogant mentality. We have never had “humans,” do you know what I mean? Which doesn’t always work in every single movie. Sometimes you need that kind of guard up. Sometimes it helps a narrative, but we’ve never had a hard, urban black and white youth in south London and then stripping them of their guard. We have never had that.

So for me ideally it was about creating a character that I could relate to, creating a character that the audience, once they watched him were like, “Wow, we know someone like that,” especially people who live in south London. So at the Tricycle, because I was only on stage for like 10 minutes or so, I would go backstage and just watch "The Wire." When I got my callback, I was like “Those characters in a way kind of remind me of what they try to do with this Moses character.” So when I watched season four…I watched from season one to season four really psyched up, and I was like “Okay, well I’m going to stay on season four for a bit. I want to look at Omar. I want to look at Marlo." Marlo especially, his performance was incredible, he just tells the stories through his eyes. He doesn’t have much lines. That to me was what Moses needed, so I got to watch that and kind of educate myself about that one.

Capone: Some of my favorite scenes in the movie are where we see the kids in the beginning and they're masked; they could be 10 years older and we wouldn’t know. But when we start to see them act like kids, especially when they are on the phone with their families, that is something I have never seen before and that really reminds you “These are just kids.” For American audiences can you just sort of talk about that living situation? What did you learn from making this movie about living in that situation that maybe Americans might not quite get a grasp on?

JB: You know what? I think it’s very much the same [as America]. I think it’s a human story. It's easy to forget that when you see little young boys in the area you don’t know as an American, I think we could all relate to it, and the fact that sometimes as humans we are faced with circumstances that we don’t quite like, and we react based on those circumstances which is what these characters are doing. All they have ever been given is broken families, free time to do nothing, no money, and no motivation. So they kind of live with that circumstance and that’s what that kind of circumstances produces; it produces rogue criminals. You have free time on your hands to do anything, you have no motivation whatsoever, a broken family, those things are a couple of the elements that lead towards that kind vague personality that doesn’t really quite get life and wants to be away from other people.

That’s all it is and I believe that as human beings if we are face with certain circumstances it’s easy to say, “They're bad kids.” But you face it yourself, you have no family, you have free time, you have no education, you’re going to do some bad stuff. It’s just a part of understanding. That’s what I learned, because I’ve watched the news before and I’ve heard things about people doing certain bad things and I’m just like, “Man, why the hell did they do that? They are bad people…” Even though what they did do is bad, I don’t know the story, all I’m hearing is from news reporters. I don’t know the real story, so it’s not to me to judge, its not to me to put out a statement like “They are this” or “They are that.”

Capone: It’s rare that Moses utters more than one sentence at a time, but he does have this monologue toward the end that really speaks volumes about his though process. Was that a tough one to get a grasp on for you, just to get the tone right on that speech?

JB: The first thing to do about that speech was to understand it, and I think morally I don’t agree with how Moses thinks. I don’t agree with that or what he does in the film. Some of the things he does are totally wrong, but as an actor when you are approaching a role, and the character might do something that you don’t agree with, you are there to portray him, so you have to understand the reasons why he is doing it. It made me understand him with “Why is he saying this?”

And ideally, why he's saying it is because of the lack of trust between young people of his caliber, his energy, to the police and people like his parents and not having that kind of adult representation in his life with someone to keep him in check. That’s where that speech came from, that speech of someone not being educated as to how it really works, but just trusting in some sort of dream, some little fairy tale thinking that “the government has done this,” and that’s all he can hold on to. That’s it, that’s confirmed and that means filling that in your head and then your mouth just runs with it. Do you know what I mean?

Capone: Yeah, and you said you had to do a lot of takes on that speech too.

JB: Yeah we needed a lot of takes on that one, because we had to get everyone silent. It was a big speech to perform, but it was really still; I didn’t do much with it in terms of facial expressions or whatever, I just thought, “I’ve got my head down, just say it.” Moses is not someone to go all Shakespeare on your ass, you know? He would just say it and release it, and I think that would affect the audience more. This guy is just saying it softly.

Capone: It’s interesting, because it reveals that in his mind he is not just fighting aliens, he is fighting the government, he’s fighting the police, like he is fighting everything that has ever fought against him up to that point.

JB: I think in a way Moses also wants redemption anyway. I think if he had the choice he wouldn’t have done what he had done, and so this thing about the whole “no feds” and how he doesn’t want any police involved. Not only is it a code in terms of snitching to the police and stuff, but I think personally for Moses it’s a form of him trying to say, “I can be good. I’m not totally lost in this,” because he does have a sense of self. He doesn’t know what he is doing at a particular time. He’s a decision character, when he makes a decision he knows he’s making that decision and he knows the reason as to why and what he has to do. So I think in his mind he’s kind of like “I know, but no feds. Let me try to handle this the way we handle it.” But all of that “This is the block” kind of thing is just a cover up to a little boy trying to prove himself.

Capone: And they are the first line of defense against anything in this neighborhood, so in a lot of ways this is their role as well.

JB: Yeah, it’s their responsibility.

Capone: And he takes that on, like in some way that’s an adult decision on his part. Obviously, the film is very funny a lot of times and Moses can deliver a line and just depending on the context it can be very funny too. Was it cool jumping back and forth between the humor and the terror?

JB: Yeah it was really good fun. I think what Joe said about the humor and terror is that the terror was so in your face and so there that the comedy of that was kind of a form of release. So it was good that that worked and we caught that when we were on set filming and it was amazing to jump from aliens and, “Those are the aliens, lets go out and go get them” a kind of serious social commentary…

Capone: Did you ever discuss with Joe the idea of even if the aliens had not been a part of this, this still would have been a really interesting story just about these kids and discovering what’s behind the guys that mugged this woman at the beginning? There’s enough meat on the bones of their characters that you could have just made a movie abut them.

JB: I hadn’t actually thought about that, but that’s interesting.

Capone: The aliens could have just been replaced by the police or by another gang or something like that.

JB: That’s the thing: we didn’t want to make a violent kind of cliché, in-your-face, humans-against-humans film. To let the audience go on a journey with the characters after that mugging, you had to put something up against them that you wouldn’t totally agree with. Some people say, “I’m on the side of the aliens.”

Capone: Really? People say that?

JB: Yeah, even my aunt was like, “You robbed a woman at the beginning of the film? I’m the side of the aliens.” But you put something then against something like that and then you end up getting a lot of good out of these kids, and the aliens kind of strip the kids of all of their “I’m hard. I'm down.” It strips them of that and just makes them human beings that care for each other.

Capone: And they get scared too.

JB: Yeah, they get scared. Moses cries. It’s a big journey.

Capone: The moment in the film where the group of kids is once again in the same place with this woman that they have mugged earlier in the film, that’s a really tough scene to watch, because we are all identifying with what it would be like in her situation and “Why would she want to help these guys?” Tell me about the dynamic of that scene, because its sort of played for laughs, because the kids don’t quite get why she’s acting that way, but tell me about that reactive moment where you are on the side of needing help and you're relying on your victim to help you out.

JB: I think they had never seen aliens before, it’s easy to forget the sci-fi element when it comes to this film, but we have to remember there are aliens in it, and they have just seen an alien crash through a door and gash into their friend’s leg. And they see this woman by the door and they're like “You know what? Let’s go into that flat and just put him down,” and obviously they find out that Sam’s a nurse. I think Moses is feeling a lot of guilt and that’s being shown through him trying to be cool and trying to be rude, “This is the block, we handle things our own way…” He is trying to be cool. He’s trying to be rude, but ideally what he is saying is “I shouldn’t have robbed you, how awkward it is looking at you, I’m kind of whack…”

Capone: Somebody says something like “We didn’t know you lived here,” like that makes a difference. It does make a difference to them.

JB: Moses actually said, “We didn’t know you lived in the block,” and then she says “What? So if I didn’t live in the block it would have been okay?” While we were filming that scene, when she said that line, I was like “Shit, that’s true, isn’t it?” “Yeah, sorry about that.” If Moses was really talky, he would have said something like “Sorry about that, but no that’s not what I meant…”

[Both Laugh]

Capone: So do you have any concept of what its going to be like for you next week at Comic-Con? Have you really thought about it?

JB: I haven’t thought about it, but I’ve heard a lot of people saying that…I was like to Joe and to my manager, “Oh yeah I want to buy some stuff, get some action figures, get some comic books or whatever,” and they’re just like, “You’re not going to be able to get from one place to the other, John.” I’m thinking “Why?” “There are loads of people there, so it’s really crowded and there’s a lot of people in costumes.” I’m just going to do a Simon Pegg and put a mask on.

Capone: That’s what a lot of people do.

JB: I’m not famous, though. I’m a normal kid. I’m sure I could walk through there.

Capone: You probably will get recognized though by some people, but you wouldn’t get mobbed like those guys would.

JB: No, I wouldn’t get mobbed, I think I’m cool.

Capone: If you do that walk through before your panel, then you will be all right, after the panel I can’t make any promises. I’m talking more about just the crowds in Hall H. Edgar can fill a house, and he’s going to be therem and that’s 6,500 people, which I’m guessing is probably the biggest audience you have been in front of so far. Is that a little scary or is it kind of exciting?

JB: It probably will be a bit scary, I don’t want to trip up on any words, but I’m sure it will be fine, because I’ll have Edgar and Joe there, so any questions that I don’t answer I’ll just look to them, “You two handle it.”

Capone: What was Edgar’s role in this? What guidance did he provide the production?

JB: Well Edgar Wright was executive producer on the film, and him and Joe go way back, they are really close friends, and Edgar kind of advised Joe about how it works when you're making his first film. It was from the same makers of SHAUN OF THE DEAD and HOT FUZZ, so what better way to have Edgar Wright kind of guide the movie in terms of where Joe wanted to take it and advising Joe how to do that to the best of his ability. At the same time with Joe not copying Edgar’s flow or copying Edgar’s material, but kind of collaborating and Edgar working for Joe to see where he wanted to take it and to work for him in the best way possible to see that this film is shown in a different light than SHAUN OF THE DEAD and HOT FUZZ, but still bring in that kind of big-talk energy, still bring in that comedy-horror British film.

Capone: And borrowing in small amounts from other films that they grew up liking.

JB: Yeah, Edgar Wright and Joe are really professionals; they write together when it comes to films, they know it all, so what better collaboration?

Capone: What films did Joe give you to watch to get the idea of the tone that this movie was going to take?

JB: He gave us ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13. He gave us THE GOONIES. He gave us THE WARRIORS. We watched the first PREDATOR at a special screening. He actually did a cut of different films to show where he wanted to go.

Capone: Of like individual scenes?

JB: We went to that private cinema in central London and we watched an ATTACK THE BLOCK trailer, but it wasn’t ATTACK THE BLOCK, it was like clips of these other films like OVER THE EDGE and PREDATOR and KIDULTHOOD, which is a British film back in London. He fused them all together to try to show the urban side and then the alien side and he made a little trailer before we watched the first PREDATOR. That to me I was thinking, “Wow, this is going to be amazing! This is not your cliché hoodie gangster film, this is for the nerds, man.” It’s such an interesting concept and that to me, him giving us the film packs and that screening, was amazing.

Capone: Tell me about just working with these creatures, because you indicated yesterday that they were in the room most of the time. I'm guessing the script probably didn’t give you a real good idea of what they were going to look like.

JB: We saw concept art. We saw different artwork and some test shoots with the alien suits in terms of their color and moving in between those bars trying to get them to camouflage. We saw that, and then copy and pasting multiple aliens moving by a lift, which is what they filmed earlier, so seeing them for the time was really weird. I remember Terry Notary was there with his two other guys. You know the water bottles with the cap on, but the straw through the cap? They were just sipping on their water with their claws and then they turn around “Hey, how are you doing? I’m Terry.” I was just like “Wow, hey how are you doing?”

[Both Laugh]

JB: Yeah our first encounter was pretty weird, but once he got on all fours and got into character it was pretty scary. Once the camera started rolling, Terry would be fast; he would be on your heels and he didn’t care. He was just like, “I’m going to bite your ass off, John. You are going to get it.”

Capone: Now those glowing teeth, was that real? Was that practical or something that was added?

JB: The teeth were super lit up on set, but I know there were a lot of things I probably still don’t know about that went into these aliens. I think its amazing sometimes when I’m watching it and I’m like “Wait a minute, I’m in this film, how come I don’t know how they did that?”

Capone: I love that they have like multiple rows of teeth, that its not just one row, there are like three or four in their mouth.

JB: Yeah, which makes it all the more scarier.

Capone: I think I read somewhere that you had shot another film since this one.

JB: Yeah, a film called JUNKHEARTS, back in London alongside Eddie Marsan.

Capone: Oh really? I love that guy.

JB: He’s an amazing guy. I shot like two weeks after ATTACK THE BLOCK. I only had like two weeks then I shot it. I’ve got a small part in that and LAW AND ORDER: UK which is a new "Law & Order: UK".

Capone: They do play those here now. I think they are behind a little. But you're in the most recent season?

JB: Yeah, the season coming out next year, that’s my episode, and I have a big part in that, but I’m based in LA now and I’m looking at a couple of…

Capone: So you have already made that move then to come over here?

JB: I’m just settling in now, but I still fly between the two, but there is where I’m at.

Capone: So have you already started working on your American accent then for the roles here?

JB: [With an American accent] Yeah, I’ve been working on it for a year now, so it’s been a while.

[Both Laugh]

Capone: Alright, thank you so much. It was really great to meet you, maybe I’ll see you next week in San Diego.

JB: Enjoy Comic-Con tomorrow. You're lucky. I wish I was at Comic Con and it was empty.

END

____________________________________

CLICK the button to see all of our blog posts about JOHN BOYEGA

John Boyega Talks Spike Lee’s HBO project Da Brick

By Wilson Morales-BlackFilm.com

October 10, 2011

One of the hottest new actors to emerge in 2011 is John Boyega (Pictured left), who captivated audiences with his role as Moses in the alien invasion dramedy ‘Attack the Block.’

For the 19-year old British native, his performance attracted the attention of many producers and directors who wanted to cast him in their next project and the guy who got him first is director Spike Lee, who made Boyega the lead character of his upcoming drama series on HBO.

‘Da Brick’ is loosely based on former heavyweight boxing champion and recent Hall of Fame inductee Mike Tyson’s early life in the ring. Boyega will play Donnie, who, after his release from juvenile detention on his 18th birthday begins an exploration of what it means to be a man for himself and those around him. Also featured in the series are Julito McCullum and Kamahl Naiqui.

Blackfilm.com caught up with Boyega recently as he spoke about his new project and ‘Attack the Block,’ which comes out on DVD on Oct.25.

How were you approached for the HBO project?

John Boyega: I auditioned for it. While I was doing a tour for ‘Attack the Block,’ I went back to LA and auditioned for ‘Da Brick.’ I had two auditions and a test and I just got the part.

Is this based on Mike Tyson’s early life?

JB: It’s loosely based on his life so you will see stuff that he’s spoken about in his world renowned documentary. So, a lot of things are taken from that and the struggles of being a black male in that area. There’s that political side but you will also the growth of a young boy to a champion. It’s a cool story and
very inspirational.

Had you see all of Spike’s films?

JB: Yes, I’ve seen all his movies. Recently, I saw ‘Inside Man.’ I think it’s going to be fun. Spike’s cool. I can’t wait to do it. I’m getting in shape now and working on my jump rope and throwing some punches so I can be a beast in the ring.

Will there be any deleted scenes on the ‘Attack the Block‘ DVD?

JB: I don’t know about deleted scenes, but you may see a lot of outtakes, and behind the scenes stuff to see how we were getting in character.

Do you think a sequel can be made?

JB: Yes. I have some ideas for it.


Related Links
Read all of our posts about Da Brick here

'Attack The Block' Coming to Blu-ray/DVD On Oct. 25th

Attack the Block Announced for DVD and Blu-ray
The cult hit is coming home, bruv. Believe it.

by Cindy White - IGN.com
September 12, 2011 September 13, 2011

One of the best-reviewed movies of the summer happens to be one of the least hyped, but now that Attack the Block is coming to home video, it just may have a chance to fulfill its cult potential. HitFix has the news that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is bringing the British alien invasion movie to DVD and Blu-ray on Oct. 25, 2011.

The film marks the promising feature debut of writer-director Joe Cornish and was produced by Edgar Wright (director of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead). It centers on a group of London hoodlums who rise to the challenge of protecting their neighborhood when vicious, jet-black creatures begin falling from the sky and attacking the residents of a South London housing project.

Among the bonus material will be no less than three audio commentaries. The "Junior Commentary" features Cornish with the film's younger stars – John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Simon Howard and Leeon Jones. The "Senior Commentary" has Cornish with the older cast members, including Jodie Whittaker, Luke Treadaway and Nick Frost. Finally, the "Executive Producer Commentary" has Cornish and Wright.

There are also these five featurettes:

--Behind the Block

--Creature Feature

--Meet the Gang

--Unfilmed Action

--That's a Rap

And here's packaging:

UPDATE: March 2012

I have finally viewed many of the extras and TOTALLY AGREE what the site HIGH-DEF Digest said below especially Behind the Block

The Supplements: Digging Into the Good Stuff

• Audio Commentaries –
  There are three audio commentaries included on this release, and they're all worth listening to.
  First off you have what's called the "Junior Commentary," which features Cornish along with kid actors John Boyega (Moses), Alex Esmail (Pest), Franz Drameh (Dennis), Simon Howard (Biggz), and Leeon Jones (Jerome). Cornish does a good job steering the commentary, keeping it on point. It's light-hearted, full of anecdotes about the filming, and being on set.
  The second commentary is called "Senior Commentary," which features another appearance from Cornish along with the older actors in the movie Jodie Whittaker (Sam), Luke Treadaway (Brewis), and Nick Frost (Ron). As always Frost has a few great lines. Even though he has minimal screen time, he may be the reason to check out this commentary. It's great to have the different views though. Most of the kids are relatively new actors, while these three have lengthier filmographies. It's kind of cool to get both points of view about what it's like working on movies.
  The third and final commentary is the "Executive Producer Commentary," which features Cornish, and famed director, who is credited as a producer here, Edgar Wright. Even though Wright wasn't in the director's chair, his finger prints are all over the look and feel of this movie. Cornish and Wright talk about working together and the more technical aspects of filming the movie.


• Behind the Block (HD, 1 hr.) – This surprisingly lengthy making-of feature covers anything and everything you may want to know about the movie. If the three commentaries full of filming information weren't enough, here's an hour-long making-of feature that is filled with behind-the-scenes footage of how the cast was chosen, how certain scenes were filmed, and how it was being on set with everyone. What a great special feature. Usually these making-of features are simply promotional clip-heavy tools that run 10 – 20 minutes. This one has some real thought put into it though. Fans will definitely want to sit down and watch this.


• Creature Feature (HD, 20 min.) – Here's the skinny on how the special effects team created the awesome creatures for the movie. Again, not just cursory information. At 20 minutes this featurette covers quite a lot of ground when it comes to creating the original look of the creatures in the film.


• Meet the Gang (HD, 15 min.) – A hodgepodge of clips with the main people in the film answering questions about their jobs and newspapers in general.


• Unfilmed Action (HD, 5 min.) – Here's a quick look at some action scenes that were cut in order to finish the film in the allotted budget.


• That's A Rap (HD, 2 min.) – A rap by the movie's cast.


• Trailers (HD, 5 min.) – A U.K. theatrical trailer is included along with the U.S. Red-Band trailer.

Final Thoughts

'Attack the Block' is a treat because you're really not sure what to expect from it, until you're about halfway through and you realize that this low-budget movie is one of the best alien invasion movies out there. It may be set on a small scale, but it's got a big heart. With people like Wright pulling the strings behind the camera, it's easy to see where the movie gets its signature frantic action-packed feel. It's a hysterically thrilling action movie. With good video, great audio, and an extensive special features package 'Attack the Block' is recommended for any movie lover looking for a good time.

—Read the full review at HIGH-DEF DIGEST here

Cool Black's Mad Commentary: I totally agree with this quote:

Let me be the first one to say that Sony Pictures/Screen Gems did NOT do right by Attack The Block, a film I still firmly hold as one of the best films I’ve seen this year. (and perhaps the best film of the summer). Despite great reviews and great audience response, the film never got the kind of solid and wide spread theatrical release it so rightly deserved. - Sergio, Shadow & Act

I also agree with this-

I’m not sure what the thinking or strategy was on Sony’s part. ... It hasn’t even grossed $1 million yet (domestic) which I was flabbergasted by when I saw its numbers last week. I figured it would have done far better. Its widest release was just 66 theaters simultaneously. I now have to wonder what the point of all those free preview screenings were the held before its release. I figured they were prepping for a nationwide roll-out. Guess not. Maybe they’re shooting for home video profits. -Tambay, Shadow & Act

You can check out the (sad) Box Office Totals I posted in Attack the Block Updates


You can read more comments about the DVD release at Shadow & Act by CLICKING their logo below.

Read my review of Attack the Block  here

The Cast is Revealed in HBO Spike Lee, Mike Tyson Boxing Drama

"Attack the Block's" John Boyega and "The Wire's" Julito McCullum join the HBO project from Lee and John Ridley.
5:43 PM PDT 8/31/2011 by (Lacey Rose), (Lesley Goldberg) Hollywood Reporter

Fresh off its pilot pick up, HBO has cast the lead and three supporting players in its Spike Lee boxing drama Da Brick.

The premium network has cast Attack the Block star John Boyega (pictured left) to play the project's titular character. (Read my enthusiastic review of Attack the Block here)

Boyega will play Donnie, who, after his release from juvenile detention on his 18th birthday begins an exploration of what it means to be a man for himself and those around him.

Milauna Jemai (NCIS, pictured left) will play Lynette, Donnie's mother, with him he reconnects with following a 14-month separation.

Julito McCullum (The Wire, pictured below right) will play Kevin, Donnie's best friend and the one person he can't leave behind, no matter how much he may want to.

Kamahl Naiqui Palmer (Gossip Girl) is set as Malik, the moral center of Donnie's tight group of friends who is looking for direction between his middle-class upbringing and the harder realities of his environment.

Da Brick is described as a contemporary exploration of what it means to be a young, black man in a supposedly post-racial America.

The project hails from Lee and L.A. Riots' John Ridley.

Former boxing heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, Entourage creator Doug Ellin and his producing partner Jim Lefkowitz are attached as nonwriting executive producers, along with Tyson's wife, Lakiha Tyson. Azim Spicer is attached as a nonwriting co-executive producer.

Lee is set to direct with Ridley on board to write and serve as showrunner.

It will be set in Newark, N.J., which is often dubbed "Brick City."

Much as Entourage was inspired by producer Mark Wahlberg's life, Da Brick will reflect aspects of Tyson's upbringing. It marks the latest in a string of Hollywood projects for Tyson, who has turned up in the Hangover franchise as well as Animal Planet's Taking on Tyson. Last season, he added a cameo on Entourage to his resume.

Cool Black's Mad Commentary: It must be said that this is JUST a pilot (first episode) order. HBO orders it, puts up the money to film it and THEN decides if they want to pay for the whole season. It's a good bet though that HBO will order a series from the pilot given the creative personnel involved.


MARCH 2012

HBO Passes On Drama Pilot ‘Da Brick’
By NELLIE ANDREEVA |
March 13, 2012

HBO’s drama pilot Da Brick will not be going forward. The pay cable network just passed on the project, executive produced by Spike Lee, John Ridley, Doug Ellin and Mike Tyson. Written by Ridley and directed by Lee, Da Brick was inspired in part by Tyson’s youth and explored what it means to be a young, black man in supposedly post-racial America. The central character of troubled aspiring young boxer Donnie was played by newcomer John Boyega. Ellin, Ridley, Lee, Tyson and Jim Lefkowitz executive produced. The move comes on the heels of HBO also opting not to go forward with Ellin’s comedy pilot 40.

Cool Black's Mad Commentary 2: As stated above^^ in the previous commentary "HBO orders it, puts up the money to film it and THEN decides if they want to pay for the whole season." Well HBO decided NOT to pay for a whole season which I find unfortunate. I think it would have been the perfect venue for John Boyega to display his acting skills a la Idris Elba in Luther. (Read my review of Luther here)


Related Links
Read all of our posts about Da Brick here

CLICK the button to see all of our blog posts about SPIKE LEE

Attack the Block Updates

Still from Attack the Block

Friday, August 19, 2011 Attack the Block expanded to six more cities - Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Washington D.C., Orlando and Phoenix taking in an additional $83, 478 bringing the U.S. total $604, 420. With a budget of $13 million, the film has grossed $4,275,216 overseas bringing the worldwide total to $4,879,636. -Info courtesy of Box Office Mojo

Read my review here

Update August 29, 2011
Because the film finally opened in Baltimore I wanted to post another box office update so soon.

Total Lifetime Grosses
Domestic: $720,002    14.4%
+ Foreign: $4,275,216   85.6%
----------------------------------
= Worldwide: $4,995,218

-Info courtesy of Box Office Mojo

UPDATE: September 15, 2012: Attack the Block is coming to Blu-Ray/DVD on October 25, 2011. Read all about it here


UPDATE: September 1, 2011: Attack the Block's John Boyega has been cast in the lead of a HBO boxing drama being helmed by Spike Lee. Read more about it here

Previous updates about the film-

 UPDATE: June 10, 2011

Attack the Block will have a limited platform release on July 29, 2011 starting slow in the cities where it will have the most immediate interest and then build on the buzz for future expansion.-ShockTillYouDrop.com

So it may or may not be in your town on the 29th, but hopefully it will be soon after. This type of release happens to movies like this all the time.


UPDATE: August 1, 2011
Attack the Block opened last weekend July 29-31 and became the HIGHEST GROSSEST FILM...however, according to the great site Shadow & Act-

The film opened in only 8 theaters across the country making a total of $130,000 with an average of $16,250 per screen.

That makes it the highest grossing film per screen, better than The Smurfs which came in second with $10, 660 per screen average, though it opened in 3,395 screens nationwide.

If you know the business of film,  "Per Screen Average" is a huge barometer of a film's success. Hopefully Attack the Block will soon be coming to a screen near you.

Related links-
Read more feedback about the opening weekend at Shadow & Act here

Read a great interview with the Writer/Director of Attack the Block Joe Cornish and star John Boyega at Ebony/Jet.com here

Official website
http://attacktheblock.com/

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