Ari Marcopoulos photographs John Boyega for HERO 30. Strength of conviction is inherent in Boyega’s mentality and craft. He criticised Disney for their reluctance to address racist abuse following the…

Ari Marcopoulos photographs John Boyega for HERO 30. Strength of conviction is inherent in Boyega’s mentality and craft. He criticised Disney for their reluctance to address racist abuse following the announcement of his Star Wars casting, and then the company’s sidelining of his role, and other characters of colour. It was a courageous move considering this was the franchise that propelled him to stardom, but one Boyega considered essential to address. This led him to a series of projects written and realised with nuance and backbone: portraying a Marine Corp veteran robbing banks in order to survive in Abi Damaris Corbin’s thriller Breaking, and King Ghezo in Gina Prince-Bythewood’s historical warrior epic, The Woman King. This summer, Boyega starred alongside Teyonah Parris and Jamie Foxx in Juel Taylor’s stylish and satirical celebration of the Blaxploitation genre, They Cloned Tyrone – a tale of identity, race and institutional power underpinned by a government cloning conspiracy. And in the pipeline, among others, Attack the Block 2 – back to where it all began for Boyega – the sequel of Joe Cornish’s 2011 genre-bending feel-good sci-fi romp.