John Boyega reveals Tom Cruise actually helped him get cast in Star Wars
Tom Cruise has influenced the Star Wars movies, without every having a part in the franchise

Tom Cruise has never been in a Star Wars movie, but he's still made a huge impact on a galaxy far, far away. Turns out we have the Mission: Impossible star to thank, at least in part, for John Boyega joining the Skywalker Saga.
During a panel at Emerald City Comic Con, Boyega spoke about how he was cast as Finn, First Order deserter turned Resistance member, in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy. "I'm thankful to Tom Cruise, who loved Attack the Block," he says, per Popverse. "He was editing Mission: Impossible at the time with J.J. Abrams. Tom told J.J., 'You’ve got to watch this kid in Attack the Block'."
Abrams did, and a few years later, Boyega got the call to join Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Coming out in 2011, Attack the Black follows a group of teenagers in South London trying to stop an alien invasion. Boyega plays the lead, Moses, in his feature debut.
Even though he's now got a whole Star Wars trilogy under his belt, as well as Pacific Rim: Uprising, The Woman King, They Cloned Tyrone and plenty of other noteworthy projects, Attack the Block stands as a highlight of his. It's a fun, relatively grounded take on the arrival of UFOs, focusing on how inner-city communities can come together amid crisis.
It's written and directed by Joe Cornish, who'd go on to co-write Ant-Man for the MCU and oversee Lockwood and Co for Netflix. Getting the stamp of approval from Tom Cruise on your first major motion picture is impressive as is, having that lead to something like Star Wars is nothing short of remarkable.
Although fellow Sequel Trilogy star Daisy Ridley is signed up for a return to a long, long time ago, there's been no word on if Boyega will ever step back into the universe. If not, becoming part of the Rebel Alliance at the behest of Ethan Hunt makes one hell of a story.
You can see Cruise portray Ethan on the big screen again when Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning opens on May 23, 2025. Keep an eye our guide to all the new Star Wars movies and TV shows for when Finn might reappear.
Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter
Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox
Anthony is an Irish entertainment and games journalist, now based in Glasgow. He previously served as Senior Anime Writer at Dexerto and News Editor at The Digital Fix, on top of providing work for Variety, IGN, Den of Geek, PC Gamer, and many more. Besides Studio Ghibli, horror movies, and The Muppets, he enjoys action-RPGs, heavy metal, and pro-wrestling. He interviewed Animal once, not that he won’t stop going on about it or anything.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

















