Star Wars: The Force Awakens star John Boyega is making a name for himself in the world of science fiction cinema. Fans will be able to catch Boyega next in the highly anticipated Pacific Rim sequel Pacific Rim Uprising next year when he plays the role of Jake Pentecost, the son of Idris Elba's original Pacific Rim character, Stacker Pentecost, who unfortunately sacrificed his own life in the first film to save Humanity from the impending Kaiju invasion.
Many news outlets are now publishing reports from their set visits which took place earlier this year in Australia and today's report involved an interview with the rising star. Via Collider, here are a few things Boyega had to say about Pacific Rim 2 and his character:
Collider: We’ve been told you were really the guy who really wanted to play this role. Do you feel it was written specifically for you? And does that put a certain level of pressure on your performance?
BOYEGA: In 2013, I was on the bus in London, coming back from an audition. I opened up the Evening Standard, and I saw Idris in full suit with his helmet, with the squint. At the time, I had no clue who Del Toro was, no clue who Idris was significantly. I’d seen him on The Wire. And seeing that for me, was just, “Oh, this is so dope! I hope they have other roles.” But then Star Wars happened, and that distracted me. And I never imagined that Pacific Rim 2 would come. And when I went to meet, to talk to [Producers] Cale [Boyter], and Mary [Parent], they came prepared. It was like a general meeting, like I was there on behalf of my production company. But they were like [in an American accent], “Oh, great. Good to see you. What do you think of Pacific Rim? Oh you enjoyed the first film? Well, we’re making a second. Come and see to this other room.” They were fully prepared.
Collider: That’s an intense sales pitch. So you walked in pitching your production company, and then they walked you into a room like, “Here’s you as the star of Pacific Rim 2″.
BOYEGA: At the time I wasn’t even in LA as an actor. I was there as a producer, CEO of my company, letting Hollywood know: here’s the script we have. Here’s the people we’re working with. And Mary goes, “Great, great great.” She played it so well. “We have something. Cale do we have something? Yeah I think we do.”
And then we both went into the room, and I saw myself in the suit. I saw the different Jaeger designs. They walked me through the whole story, pre-vis, all in the same day…Then I met Steve in the Chateau in LA. We just got talking. I was obviously fearful. You was asking about the pressure of the role. I think for me, you’re going to talk about this in contrast to another franchise. Is it necessary for me to do another? But you know, I like this whole King of Sci-Fi thing. I like that whole thing. It’s a great chance of me to be a part of another franchise that I really love.
Collider: And it seems like this character is completely different.
BOYEGA: Oh, yeah. That was the big thing. That’s what I really, really appreciated Legendary for. Because there’s a difference between when someone feels you’re right for a role based on what they’ve seen before. And then when they say, “You’re right for a role,” based on something completely different? Jake is like – we discuss it all the time – he is just not Finn, at all! So it’s a great opportunity, especially getting to keep my own accent. It’s bringing the character to life.
You can read the full interview over on Collider!
