John Boyega

The Star Wars actor gets comfortable in his own skin for the Pirelli Calendar

TheCal photographer Ethan James Green knew how to put the British star at ease, by putting himself in the frame first.

“He walked me in to see the test shots that he had done himself,” the actor and producer recalls of the Miami beach shoot. “And then he asked me what I felt, what I was comfortable with, and I was just like, yeah, I would actually love to show my body at this stage.”

Green’s experience as a model reassured Boyega, who likened it to directors who also act. “It’s like a specific eye that they have and then there’s a way in which they communicate notes to you. Especially [for me] as an actor who isn’t a model, you need that kind of open communication. And he’s got that all down pat.”

The London-born actor, who first gained attention as a teenager for his role in the 2011 British cult hit Attack the Block, said the Cal shoot was about “embracing beauty, discovering beauty” and fostered “openness and acceptance of our bodies”.

“For me its message is one of inclusivity as well. How we bring everybody together through the expression of what we all have… which is a human body.

“I think this shoot has taught me about being more comfortable…. But to know that underneath all these layers of clothes, under these careers, all of these personalities, that we are all just biological humans, mammals running across the planet, there’s something unifying about that.”

He added that having “an amazing photographer and an amazing Calendar” wasn’t the only path to this. “But I feel like connecting with like-minded people and then feeling comfortable in your own skin can definitely lead towards feeling more comfortable with your expression and your body.”

Boyega rose to global fame playing Finn in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, reprising the role in the subsequent films of the trilogy opposite Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver.

He has also starred in Kathryn Bigelow’s 2017 film Detroit, 2018’s Pacific Rim: Uprising, and Steve McQueen’s anthology Small Axe, for which he won a 2021 Golden Globe for best supporting actor in a series, miniseries or film made for television.

In 2020, Boyega’s views went viral after he made an impassioned impromptu speech at a Black Lives Matter rally in London.

What is your definition of beauty? What does beauty mean to you?

I have various different definitions of beauty. Obviously [there] is physical beauty, but also I feel that beauty can be found in emotion and in moments, in feeling the spirits of people, the souls, unique personalities.

[Also] waking up to great news. Colours. Food. Red, that’s my favourite colour. Red is beautiful. It evokes such charisma to me. And I think that it also embodies the masculine and feminine in a quite unique way. And we all got red in us, man. So, yeah, it’s unifying as well.

Is there a smell that you associate with beauty?

For me, it would be the fresh air at 7am in London. There’s something about the cold, kind of crisp, fresh air that reminds me of being a teenager… and the beauty in the moments that I’ve had during those times.

Also, the smell of an old theatre rehearsal room. It brings me back to my childhood to smell the sweat, blood and tears from other actors and crew… the beautiful memory of when I was kind of hustling for this.

John Boyega Calendar Pirelli 2025 Interview

How about a sound?

Oh, my mum. My mother telling me “pèlé”. That’s something that we say in our language in Nigeria. It means “I’m sorry” and there’s a tone that she uses, even if it was a hum. There’s always something that is so beautiful about that to me.

A taste?

Doughnuts! Glazed ring doughnuts. I think beauty would be sweet and then it would just disappear before you even get to appreciate it. You know, beauty is a bit bougie, too, it doesn’t give you too much.