John Boyega has been living a whole second life in private. The Star Wars actor kept his marriage secret for nearly two years — along with a stepson and a baby on the way — and the news only surfaced because an interviewer asked about the ring on his finger.
Speaking to The Guardian, Boyega confirmed the band was a wedding ring. "I've been married for coming up to two years now," he said, before adding the bigger news: "My baby's on the way. We got a baby cooking."
The ceremony itself was small — Boyega joked that he married the way Braveheart did, miming planting a sword in the ground. The ring he was wearing, a two-toned band, carries its own story: he calls it "our very sentimental ring," explaining that the couple picked it up spontaneously at Walmart because he wanted a ring on his finger. "It was a lovely trip to Walmart. Shout out, Walmart Canoga Park!" he said. There has been no traditional Nigerian ceremony yet, but Boyega, who is of Nigerian descent, wants a proper celebration later — the couple prefer "celebrating something established, rather than celebrating the entry." "And by then, we'll have to shut Nigeria down!" he joked.
Boyega is also now stepfather to a young son, and he has thought hard about the kind of father he wants to be. "Us being parents is funny!" he said. "I just want to make sure I'm present, I'm consistent and full of love." He described his life as "completely, completely fulfilled in terms of family," and said he has deliberately tried to de-center his career after busy stretches of work, because "there's stuff to do" at home. It is a striking shift for an actor whose twenties were consumed by one of the biggest film franchises on Earth.
The actor has since gone public on his own terms. In an Instagram post this week, Boyega shared photos with his wife, actress Tae Heckard — who now goes by Tae Boyega — including pregnancy pictures and a clip of him holding their newborn. His caption suggested the baby has already been with them "for some time now," and noted that his sister is about to give birth as well.
The Guardian interview was pegged to Damilola: The Untold Story, the BBC Two documentary about Damilola Taylor, the 10-year-old friend Boyega was among the last to see alive before Taylor was killed in 2000. Boyega said it matters to "reach back and tell people the grounded realities of your origins" — a fitting frame for an interview in which he finally shared his own.
