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John Boyega Lied to J.J. Abrams, But It’s OK

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 05:57 PST, Dec 27, 2015

John Boyega really needs to get used to being ridiculously famous, considering he is one of the front-running stars in the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens. But, when he was waiting to hear back from J.J. Abrams about whether or not he got the part, he lied. Time reports that Boyega appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and admitted that he lied to Abrams about his whereabouts when Abrams emailed him after the audition.

“It took seven months to audition and then J.J. sent me an email that was like ‘where are you?’ I lied and told him I was at an art gallery, when I was at home. Listen, in my defense I told him that because, you know, you don’t want a director thinking that you’ve got all the free time in the world. You want him to think that you’re up to stuff. So I told him ‘yeah, I’m at an art gallery, I’m not waiting to hear back about your movie J.J.!'”

Perhaps even funnier is that Boyega’s friends all thought he was merely an extra in the new Star Wars movie. People reports that Boyega told Fallon that those friends were surprised when they saw the London premiere.

“I took them to the London premiere and after the premiere they were just like, ‘Yo, John, I never knew you were in the movie for so long – I thought you were an extra!’ I’m like, all this time I was leaving from Monday to Friday, what did you think I was doing, man, for two years?”

John Boyega seems to be pretty humble, much like his Star Wars character, Finn. The Wall Street Journal reveals that Boyega thinks of Finn as representative of everyman.

“Finn is us. He doesn’t have his path handed to him. He doesn’t have his destiny spoken of in a distant prophecy. He is the everyman, and it’s like, who would everybody really be in a Star Wars movie? People who say Luke Skywalker, they’re lying.”

John Boyega also revealed that he isn’t too concerned about being identified with Finn for the remainder of his career.

“I don’t borrow too much from tomorrow; it doesn’t exist yet. I’m in the movie now, and it’s all about having this moment. To be a big part of it is an absolute blessing.”

John Boyega might be humble, but he and co-star Daisy Ridley did impress one fellow in particular: Harrison Ford. According to The Telegraph, Ford praised Boyega for his talent.

“John is a very distinct individual and a fascinating guy and very talented. He is going to have a wonderful career.”

When John Boyega did get the part of Finn, he spoke about how difficult the lengthy audition process was.

“For the whole seven months I was auditioning my life was just confusing. It was like they were dangling the opportunity in front of my face and then saying, ‘no you don’t have it yet.’ I was always being called back and my last screen test I had with Chewbacca in full costume, which was fun. When JJ broke it to me that I had the part my main feeling was one of relief and knowing I was going to sleep well that night. And I did.”

Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released in movie theaters last weekend and was a box office smash right out of the gate. Check out the trailer here.

[Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images]

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