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When John Boyega gave an impassioned speech at a Black Lives Matter rally in June 2020, he worried it would ruin his career in movies.

"Black lives have always mattered. We have always been important. We have always meant something," he said.

"I don't know if I'm going to have a career after this, but f***that."

It was a rally to protest againstGeorge Floyd's murder at the hands of policethat sparked worldwide protests against police brutality.

Boyega, the star of Star Wars and Woman King, had not planned on speaking it just happened in the moment but it sparked global headlines.

"It was just so lovely to see that individuals watched it and they kind of get to know more of what you're about," he told ABC News.

"So that's definitely had huge, huge impacts."

But speaking out didn't end his career.Infact, itled to Boyega working with like-minded actors such asthe late Michael KWilliams, who he stars with in the upcoming bank robbery dramaBreaking.

"What's crazy is that Michael had seen the speech before coming on [toBreaking]and he really respected the words that came," Boyega said.

The actors worked closely together on set, and Boyega said Williams, who had a long acting career in critically acclaimed shows such asThe Wire and Boardwalk Empire,was "very influential" to him.

Breaking will be Michael K Williams's last film.He died in 2021 from a drug overdose.

Breaking is based on thetrue story of Brian Brown-Easley, a United States Marine Corpsveteranwho took several people hostage at a Wells Fargo bank branch in 2017.

Brown-Easley, played by Boyega, was seeking a payment he was owed from the US Department of Veteran Affairs. He struggled with mental health problems and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

To prepare for the role,Boyega said he extensively researched PTSD, studieddocumentation of the case, and spoke to people in Brown-Easley's life, including his ex-wife.

"It's the type of conversations you have when you just need to try to get to know somebody by imagining the person out there," Boyega said.

"So you know, what do they likeand dislike, tone of voice, the interests, life prospects, where they're at a certain stage, the struggles or obstacles."

Boyega said while he was shopping with his mother in Los Angeles, an army veteran approached him after seeing the film's trailer.

"He said that my character feels like him what he's been through and what he's going through now and symptoms of that," Boyega said.

"That, for me, just means that wow, this picture is going to be important.

"That's going to open them up into a new perspective to it, as well as showing them a mirror of what they've suffered themselves."

Breaking was produced by Boyega's production company, which he startedwith the aim of telling diverse and untold stories.

Boyega starred in British comedy-horror Attack the Block before shooting to mainstream stardom playing a stormtrooper with a conscience in 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Asked if he'd ever go back to Star Wars, he said the contract was over.

"That's done now. So it was [episodes] seven, eight, and nine," Boyega said.

"I was a fan before I was in it, so I kind of ascend to the glory of maybe I can call myself a super fan because I've been in it.

"So now I just watch the Mandalorian, and Obi Wan and the rest of the stuff they're doing, which has been really, really fun actually."

Breakingis available to watch or own from March 27.

The rest is here:
How John Boyega's Black Lives Matter speech connected him with the late Michael K Williams - ABC News