John Boyega: ‘He knows he’s Indiana Jones, he knows he’s Han Solo, so that’s why … he walks in slow motion. So people can take it in.’ Photograph: Action Press/REX/Shutterstock
John Boyega says when he won his part as Finn in The Force Awakens, he took his co-star Harrison Ford to a popular joint in south London to celebrate
It is a restaurant far, far away from Harrison Ford’s usual Hollywood haunts. But when John Boyega won his part in The Force Awakens, he took his Star Wars co-star to a popular joint in the heart of Peckham to celebrate.
Staff were dumbfounded when Han Solo turned up for dinner at Nigerian restaurant 805 on the Old Kent Road on a quiet Sunday night in September last year, said owner Emmanuel James. “Someone came out the back to see me and was like ‘Harrison Ford’s here’ and I didn’t believe it. Staff were asking each other, ‘are we absolutely sure that’s him?’,” he said.
“You just would never expect it, so it took a few minutes to work out if it was really him. Seeing someone out of context, it’s hard for it to sink in, you know.”
In an video interview on the Bafta website, Peckham-born Boyega said Ford had asked to see the area he was from, and when they arrived at the restaurant in south-east London, his co-star “walked up into that place like he was Nigerian”.
John Boyega on taking Han Solo to Peckham
Boyega, who has Nigerian parents, said Ford had treated the place like a Tinseltown hotspot, walking in slowly and glancing around to see if he had been noticed.
Doing an impression of Ford, Boyega joked: “He does walk in too slow, Harrison, you just have to walk in and go straight to the table, that’s the thing, you don’t have to ‘look around and see who’s here and do they notice I’m Harrison Ford?’”
“People always said ‘when you meet Harrison, he’s casual, he’s laid back’, and he’s all those things but at the same time, he knows who he is,” he continued.
“He knows he’s Indiana Jones, he knows that he’s Han Solo, so that’s why when we walked into an environment where people didn’t expect him there he walks in slow motion. So they can take it in.”
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Ford and Boyega sat in a corner table by the bar and ordered fruit cocktails, James said. Ford opted for one of the restaurant’s most popular dishes: a traditional Nigerian Egusi soup, made with ground seeds, and served with pounded yam, costing £14. Bodega ordered the £11 jollof fried rice with plantain.
Customers left the pair alone until they got up to leave and then several people went over to speak to them.
James, who has run the family business serving up specials like spicy beer mate and okra soup for 15 years, said: “No one took any pictures, he asked the waiter if he could be left alone so we didn’t bother him. Some places would put a picture on the wall but it’s not like that here.” It was Boyega who footed the bill and left a tip, he added.
FacebookTwitterPinterest Manager Emmanuel James in 805 Restaurant in Peckham. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian
Boyega, who plays Finn in the new blockbuster, joked that Ford always tried to pay when they went out together. “You don’t always have to take the cheque Harrison, we know you’re rich, we know you’ve got nine planes, but let me pay for it sometimes.”
James said Boyega had been a regular at the restaurant for years but admitted he had had no idea how famous his customer was until he saw him in the Star Wars posters this week.
“John’s come with family and friends a few times but I didn’t know he was actually the key guy in the film,” James said.
“He brought him here because we are the best, most authentic African food in this area, it’s a busy, friendly atmosphere, I think that’s what he wanted him to see. And there’s not any paparazzi outside either,” James said.
James plans to see The Force Awakens next week. “I wouldn’t call myself a massive fan, but I watched some of the older ones this week and everyone can enjoy it, I’ll definitely watch it.”
Credit: TheGuardian UK
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