SHOW OF FORCE

With three major new projects and his own innovative production company, actor and activist JOHN BOYEGA is muscling way beyond Star Wars.

- LOLA OGUNNAIKE

HIGH IN THE manicured hills of Pomona, New York, a bucolic suburban town in a galaxy far, far away from bustling Manhattan, is where you'll find John Boyega quietly idling next to an infinity pool. For the better part of a five-hour photo shoot, Boyega has been "on," flexing his newly won biceps and striking poses with a billowing parachute. "I feel like I'm in an Adele video," he jokes at one moment, crooning "Helloooo" and serving up blue-steel gazes from the driver's seat of a Day-Glo-orange McLaren GT. When he's not dancing to Burna Boy, he's switching in and out of Gucci tank tops and gamhugging hoochie-daddy shorts by Dior. He has indefatigable energy and is downright silly, which comes as a complete surprise to those of us who know him only from his sober turns in an epic franchise and several critically acclaimed indies. You would never guess that he's fresh off a flight from London, sleep-deprived, and starving. In fact, when I ask him how he's feeling, he flashes the type of winning smile that makes knees buckle and hearts skip. "I feel sexy," he declares. "I can't lie. I feel very, very sexy."

Days later, when Boyega talks about the feel-good vibes he emanated on set, the 30-year-old grows philosophical. "You have two options as an artist," he says. "Fixate on your fatigue or acknowledge that you've arrived and expressed your extreme gratitude. When I was broke and no casting director wanted to see me, if someone said, 'We're going to fly you out tomorrow, take care of your hotel, shoot a Men's Health cover, then fly you back,' I would've cried with joy. Yeah, I just got off a flight, but that's what the rappers sing about. I'm living it."