John Boyega, known for his roles in the Star Wars franchise and Attack the Block, has opened up about the death of his school friend, Damilola Taylor, in a forthcoming BBC Two documentary. Damilola Taylor was 10 years old when he was killed on November 27, 2000, in Peckham, south London. He was attacked while walking home from an after-school club at the local library, sustaining a fatal injury from a broken bottle in a concrete stairwell.

In the documentary, Boyega expresses the lasting emotional toll the event has had on him, noting that the memory of the incident has caused him significant distress over the years. The actor describes feeling nervous about revisiting the subject, as he was with Taylor shortly before the attack occurred. The documentary aims to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the killing, which became a high-profile case that took six years and three separate trials to reach a conclusion regarding those responsible. By sharing his personal connection to the victim, Boyega provides a perspective on how the violence affected his local community and his own life as a young person growing up in the area.