Before becoming synonymous with the Star Wars franchise, John Boyega was just another rising star struggling for his big break. But did you know the Force was almost with someone else? Yup, our popular Stormtrooper, Finn, was almost played by two MCU stars—Tom Holland and Michael B. Jordan.
Crazy, right? The Star Wars casting battle now seems more intense than any onscreen fight—but John Boyega emerged victorious! From his competitive audition to landing one of the most iconic roles in sci-fi history, Boyega casually overpowered MCU’s Spider-Man as well as the ever-smooth Killmonger.
Tom Holland and Michael B. Jordan bombed their Star Wars audition
Auditioning for Star Wars isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, because even two seasoned MCU stars bombed their casting calls. First, we’ve Marvel’s Killmonger from the Black Panther film, Michael B. Jordan. Fresh off some killer performances and full of confidence, you might expect this star to totally rock a Stormtrooper suit. But sadly, Jordan admitted to ruining his Star Wars audition.
According to his interview with Variety, Michael B. Jordan opened up about his audition for the 2015 Star Wars project, The Force Awakens. Despite being hailed as the winner of People’s 2020 Sexiest Man of the Year award, the actor admitted failing to impress the casting directors during his “worst audition” ever. Appearing for the role of Finn, Jordan claimed to find the script “vague”.
I think that was probably my worst audition to date. I think it was I couldn’t wrap my brain around some of the sides because you know when you’re reading for these high-level projects, there’s never really any specificity in the sides.
Everything’s like super vague, everything is in secret. Reading through, I just couldn’t connect it. I definitely bombed that one for sure.
Let’s be honest, Star Wars lingo isn’t exactly beginner-friendly. So, after Michael B. Jordan bombed his audition, another MCU star—our fan-favorite Spider-Man actor Tom Holland—appeared for the casting call. But much like Jordan, even the British actor couldn’t make the hyperspace jump into a galaxy far, far away. According to his interview for Backstage, Holland failed to keep a straight face.
I was like four or five auditions in, and I think I was auditioning for John Boyega’s role. I remember doing this scene with this lady, bless her, and she was just a drone.
So I was doing all of this, like, ‘We gotta get back to the ship!’ And she was going, ‘Bleep, bloop bloop, bleep bloop.’ I just couldn’t stop laughing. I found it so funny… I obviously didn’t get the part.
So, as surprising as it sounds, two of Hollywood’s biggest superheroes couldn’t land the role of Finn in The Force Awakens. Tom Holland became Marvel’s Spider-Man and Michael B. Jordan became Killmonger, but Star Wars was yet to find its Finn.
Overthrowing the MCU stars, John Boyega landed the role of Finn
Enter John Boyega! While Tom Holland and Michael B. Jordan fumbled through their lines, this Hollywood star came in laser-focused. Trying to find his big break, Boyega truly treated his Star Wars audition like a mission from the Jedi Council—no laughs, no confusion—straight-up talent and raw emotion. He gave everything he had, proving to be the best fit. And boy, did it pay off.
The actor, who first rose to prominence in 2011 for his role in the sci-fi comedy Attack the Block, eventually landed the role in 2015’s The Force Awakens, right after a Chewbacca screen test. Later, John Boyega starred in all three films in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker. And just like that, Finn became the role of a lifetime for Boyega.
And let’s be real—beating Spider-Man and Killmonger for the same role? That’s no small feat. Eventually, after overthrowing Tom Holland and Michael B. Jordan, John Boyega became what he was absolutely meant to be—Finn, the stormtrooper named FN-2187, who teamed up with Poe Dameron to escape from the First Order. Meanwhile, although he has criticized J.J. Abrams for how he handled Kelly Marie Tran and Naomi Ackie’s characters, Boyega still looks back on the trilogy with fondness.
The Star Wars trilogy is available on Disney+.
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