Star Wars actor John Boyega has spoken publicly for the first time about the murder of his friend Damilola Taylor, describing the tragic event as ‘life changing’ and saying it ‘shaped’ who he is today.
The 32-year-old, who played stormtrooper-turned-Resistance-fighter Finn in the Disney saga, also revealed that a poignant moment at Damilola’s funeral inspired him to truly chase his dreams of acting and movie stardom.
He has purposely refrained from talking about his childhood friend’s murder until now, but has been motivated to speak out following the death of Damilola’s father, Richard Taylor, on Saturday.
Damilola was 10 years old when he was slashed with a broken bottle and left to die while on his way home from a library in Peckham, south-east London, on November 27, 2000.
Boyega and his sister Grace – who also attended the same school as Damilola – were among the last people to see him alive, Taylor previously revealed in 2015.
The actor explained he was impacted by a poem written by Damilola, read out at his funeral, as it showed him that another 10-year-old, from the same environment, ‘dreamed to be more’.
Speaking to John Wilson on BBC Radio 4’s Last Word, Boyega recalled: ‘From the hours we left him in Peckham to the hours when I went home, and then the police was at our door and there was a whole investigation that we were involved in, (it) was definitely life changing for me, definitely altered my perspective.’
He described it as ‘a shock to understand how mortality worked’ at such a young age, admitting it was hard to ‘understand or comprehend’ how ‘somebody as young as me could pass away in such a horrific way’.
‘And I definitely think Damilola’s tragic murder has definitely shaped me through the years and just affected my perspective on certain things and it definitely affected the community too,’ he added.
‘I mean, my sister, in particular, Grace, who was very, very close with Damilola, went through a lot, and my dad had to front that and try to protect her in that journey. It was definitely a lot for everybody to take.’
In 2015, Taylor described his son and Grace’s close relationship as ‘almost like boyfriend and girlfriend’ and shared that the Boyega siblings had been ‘looking after’ Damilola after he arrived in the UK from Nigeria, just a few months prior to his killing.
‘They were the last to see him. They wanted to escort him home, but he said he was going to be OK. They left him by the junction then he went around the corner and the gang were waiting for him,’ Taylor told The Mirror.
Reflecting on the poem Damilola had written, Boyega remembered: ‘It was during the time of the funeral his dad had read the poem that Damilola had written down for himself, and that was a poem that spoke about what Damilola wanted to achieve, how far he wanted his dreams to spread, who he wanted to impact and touch.
‘And I found that quite profound because I was just kind of like, “Man you’re so young, why are you even thinking about that kind of stuff?” I’m here, wondering when the ice cream van is going to pull up and why he’s an hour late from Monday.
‘And you’re thinking about all this stuff that you’re going to do and how you’re going to use your skillset to impact the world.’
The Attack the Block actor credited that ‘amongst other things’ as something that ‘gave birth to this mentality that I had’.
He explained: ‘What is truly my dream? Do I have the guts to identify what my dream is? Am I too young to identify my dream and work towards it?
‘And after reading that poem, I was just like, yeah, I have no excuse. I want to be a movie star – and not just because I want to be (one) but because someone else like Damilola Taylor, in my environment too, dreamed to be more.
‘And I think that’s worth it. And it definitely has impacted me till today.’
Damilola’s father Richard died on March 23 aged 75 following a long illness and Boyega remembered him as ‘a man that was for the people and for the community’ and who ‘turned his tragic loss into something triumphant’.
Boyega said he was motivated to speak about Damilola following the news of his dad’s death.
Asked if he has spoken publicly about Damilola’s murder before, Boyega confirmed: ‘I haven’t and on purpose too.
‘I’m quite private in general, but with this specifically… it’s that celebrity thing of not wanting to get in front of very real-life news.’
‘But on Richard Taylor’s passing, I just was so kind of motivated to speak up,’ he added.
Mr Taylor and his wife Gloria set up a charity called The Damilola Taylor Trust in the face of their son’s death, which Boyega nominated to receive a donation from the Star Wars: Force for Change charitable initiative around the time of sequel The Force Awakens’ release in 2015.
Gloria died in 2008 and Mr Taylor continued their work in the following years.
Boyega praised the trust and revealed he had ‘been a big beneficiary of the work that they’ve been doing’.
The Bafta winner from Peckham said he used to imagine, with his sister Grace, what Damilola might be like today and said he would have grown up to be a ‘handsome young man with great opportunities and great morals’.
‘Whatever his chosen field would be, he’d definitely still be funny,’ Boyega shared.
‘But I think that he would have grown up to be someone great and someone that is an important part of our community.’
After three crown court trials, Damilola’s killers, brothers Ricky and Danny Preddie, were put behind bars in 2006.
Last Word with John Wilson airs on BBC Radio 4 on Friday at 4pm.
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