Are Star Wars' Daisy Ridley And John Boyega Friends In Real Life?
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" reintroduced the world to lightsabers and the mysterious Force that surrounds and binds the galaxy. Not only did "Force Awakens" rake in a staggering $2 billion, according to The Numbers, but it also served to bring back original characters from "Star Wars" while introducing a whole new crop of Rebel heroes. Although fans were delighted to once again see Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), the main protagonists of "Force Awakens" are the desert scavenger Rey (Daisy Ridley), the former Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega), and the hot-shot Rebel pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac).
These new heroes form the backbone of the new "Star Wars" trilogy. There is a special focus on Rey, who may or may not be related to somebody important during the events of "The Force Awakens," only to have her lineage revealed in the final movie of the trilogy, "Rise of Skywalker." Throughout the films, Finn tries his very best to help Rey, but she often does not need or require his aid, despite his efforts. With such a connection present in the movies, fans might wonder: are the actors who play Rey and Finn friends in real life, or is their on-screen camaraderie simply movie magic?
Boyega and Ridley call each other the same nickname
It turns out that both Daisy Ridley and John Boyega are indeed friends in real life. Not just friends, but exceptionally close ones at that. Speaking with People, Ridley brought up her "Star Wars" co-star Boyega and said, "John's got my heart. He's just my peanut. It's the closest relationship to a brother I've ever had. He's just wicked. He likes to kiss my really large forehead." This isn't the only indicator of their relationship, and the two often bring up their friendship during interviews.
One such interview with The Hollywood Reporter highlights their friendship via several anecdotes from their time filming the latest "Star Wars" trilogy. This brief video opens up with Ridley and Boyega accusing each other of being pranksters on set. Both come clean about stealing Harrison Ford's golf cart, with Boyega apologizing directly to Ford. Ridley added that they both had a ton of fun on set, and this is probably due to them being similar in age, from the same area (London), and sharing the same type of humor.
Referencing the earlier quote about Ridley referring to Boyega as "peanut," both explained that the word is their shared pet name for each other, which is absolutely adorable. The two also mentioned that they constantly sang on set and that Boyega once bet Ridley that she couldn't go an entire day without singing, which she failed. In other words, both Ridley and Boyega are fantastic friends in real life, which probably helped to buoy their performances in the sequel trilogy.