John Boyega was almost cast as the lead in Kingsman: The Secret Service

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Matthew Vaughn revealed an interesting tidbit of information during a conversation with Empire. While chatting with the magazine for its new issue, Vaughn said he almost cast STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS actor John Boyega as Gary "Eggsy" Unwin in KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE. The director says he was torn between Boyega and Taron Egerton, but ended up going with the latter for the lead role in his spy comedy.

"It was a tough call. Boyega is a fabulous actor, but there’s something about Taron. You have to listen to your instincts about who that role is. John’s probably thinking, 'Thank fuck he didn’t cast me!' because he might never have been in Star Wars!"

As far as casting "what-ifs" go, this one is pretty intriguing, however I think Vaughn made the right call. Although Boyega is a great actor who would have done just fine in the role, Egerton was damn near perfect as Eggsy. And Vaughn is right: Who knows if Boyega would have done THE FORCE AWAKENS if he had been cast in KINGSMAN?

There just might be a Star Wars movie in Egerton's future though. Egerton is one of several actors being eyed to play the young Han Solo in the planned spinoff from directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, and he will also start filming soon for KINGSMAN 2, which has been scheduled to open on June 16, 2017.