John Boyega's surprise transformation in 'heartbreaking' film: 'Give my all'

Watching the trailer for John Boyega's latest film Breaking, you'd be forgiven for not recognising the star immediately.

The 31-year-old totally transforms for the thriller that's based on the true story of Brian Brown-Easley, a former Marine with PTSD, who robs a bank after finding himself in a financial crisis when the Department of Veterans Affairs doesn't give him his disability payment.

Brian is not the type of man who would rob a bank with a supposed bomb in his backpack, however, the idea of becoming homeless when he has a daughter is enough to drive him to make the decision.

While he calls the shots inside the bank, he is always polite to the two women he is holding hostage. The father-of-one is only trying to get the money owed to him, not a cent more, with the former Star Wars actor giving an incredible performance.

Speaking with Yahoo Lifestyle, John shares that he loved being able to completely transform for the role of Brian, telling us "versatility" is essential to him in his work.

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"I think I definitely lean more towards being a character actor," he tells us. "I like not being myself. I like characters that, you know, there will always be some through lines, but usually mostly a detachment, and [Breaking] definitely gave me just that."

The star explains that the script was "badass" and "was written too well" for him to turn it down.

"I saw myself comfortably in this role, but at the time I looked nothing like Brian and was like, okay, cool, I don't know how that's gonna happen," John says. "But I was like, okay, cool, I'm gonna get this, this is a role that challenges me."

One of the challenges was the "added responsibility" of portraying a real person and also understanding the things that Brian was going through personally, "I have to make sure I understand the symptoms of PTSD, I have to make sure I'm not screaming for no reason, I have to make sure I show the audience a softness and then these two different sides to him."

He adds that to prepare for the role, he did a lot of research and spoke with people who were related to the case and read statements and documents from the day Brian held up the bank, "The most interesting thing was getting to know Brian, just as a man, because one thing I told [director and writer Abi Damaris Corbin] is that I want to get to know the man separate to what he went through and on that day.

"Because, unfortunately, the audience only gets to live through that 24 hours with him, but I would rather there be layers so people go, 'Oh, I see that soft side, he's probably funny when he's just by himself, he's probably more relaxed,' so you can just get more of that human energy from him."

John tells us that the story left him both "heartbroken" and "infuriated" that it was all over just $892, explaining, "When I was reading the script, at the time, it was called 892, and I didn't understand it, I was like, 'Why is it called 892? Is this like a spy film? What?' And it's gut-wrenching to find that out."

'Keke Palmer, let's do something'

When asked what other kinds of genres he's keen to explore, John shares that he would love to do a romantic comedy one day, "Romantic comedies would be fun, with the right type of co-star, Keke Palmer, come on, let's do something!"

"It's all about the right story for me because you know to do rom coms, comedy in general, you've got to be good, good like – dramas, there's slightly something easier about a drama, but comedy, that's tricky!"

The star also teased his "biggest transformation yet", revealing his upcoming Netflix movie They Cloned Tyrone will see him undergoing "four different transformations".

"Transforming is just like my thing now, I'm just like having fun with that," he added.

'Left it behind'

When asked whether there was any hope for Star Wars fans that John's character Finn might return to the series, he sadly shut it down, saying he's "definitely left it behind".

"I think it's nice to graduate back – I think graduate back, which is cool – but graduate back to being a Star Wars fan, who gets to really enjoy Obi Wan Kenobi, who gets to really enjoy Mandalorian – Mandalorian obviously being my number on fave, and then Rogue One being my favourite feature film. I get to just sit back and enjoy, especially after doing three of those movies, I'm just really, really excited to see what they do next and to continue watching."

He adds that he would, of course, love to work with his former co-star Oscar Isaac again, but he would want it to be a "gritty two-hander" type of film, not a Star Wars project.

Speaking of some of the hilarious fan-fiction created out of the bromance of the stars' two characters, John jokes, "Oscar was definitely more of a fan than me, because I feel like sometimes they wouldn't get my body proportions right. I'm like, if you're gonna do this, you might as well understand that my back is actually way more muscular than that, I'm just not wearing the tightest T-shirt at all times."

"They did me dirty in some of them ones, I was like, 'Damn, the angles, guys! The bum cheeks don't look like that, you need to arc it a little bit more,'" he said with a laugh.

The star added, "But you know, it's fans interacting with something that they love, it's harmless banter and fun, it was cool to see."

Breaking is available to rent and own from April 5.

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