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In the Star Wars universe, Finn is a hero of the Resistance. In real life, the actor John Boyega is also a hero. Boyega has used his wealth and his platform to give back to his community, and to help other actors get their start. Boyega does this as a way of paying tribute to one of his childhood friends.

“I grew up with a young man called Damilola Taylor who unfortunately passed away when I was younger,” Boyega says during a panel at Dragon Con. “I was one of the last people to see him, me and my sister Grace. Since then, we’ve been working with the Damilola Taylor Center to open up their doors for extracurricular activities for young people in the local area who don’t get the opportunity to go somewhere it’s safe, where they can have creative freedom to do what they want and explore their interests.”

“We’ve been doing a lot of outreach, especially to schools that have limited funds. I use some of that Star Wars money to get them laptops and stuff. So, lowkey Luke Skywalker did it. And then we’ve just been helping the kids, and that then gave birth to our outreach Upperroom, which helps young people get into filmmaking. We’ve partnered up with Converse, a lot of brands that young people like, and give opportunities for filmmakers to make four to five short films. We have a good amount of a budget for each, and I’ve seen a lot of filmmakers who are consistent now in the industry come through that path.”

“I actually am a beneficiary of that. I got my theater school scholarship because I was one of those kids, and I got brought into the system, into theater by somebody kind of stepping in the gap and making the access to the industry more viable for someone like me that didn’t have a casting director parents or something like that.”

“I definitely needed guidance, and why not give that guidance to the other people coming in,” Boyega says.

To learn more about the Damilola Taylor Center, or to make a donation, please visit this link.

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