Google takes a minute, every now and then, to sit down with a prominent person like a celebrity, CEO or entrepreneur. They call this segment Talks at Google. Today’s pick was John Boyega, one of the main characters in the uber-hyped new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens. This coincides nicely with a barrage of Star Wars cross-promotion, including Star Wars-themed Cardboard viewers being given away and a full Star Wars experience inside Google services. Subscribers to the Star Wars experience may notice that Google has taken the liberty of adding an event to their calendars for initial showings of the new movie. Google fans who are already starting to receive their new Cardboard viewers can also check out a Star Wars VR experience.
In the fairly lengthy interview, a very excited Boyega dishes on his characer in the movie, Finn, along with more personal topics. He recalls how The Force Awakens director, J.J. Abrams, became a fan upon seeing Boyega’s first film, Attack the Block. On set, it would seem Boyega behaved much like any other Star Wars fan would, bugging co-stars for selfies and autographs and generally geeking out. He said he felt justified in doing so, since this was the only time he would ever experience Star Wars from the other side of the screen for the first time. He also seemed plenty excited to be sharing a stage with a Googler for the whole internet to see, picking his words carefully when he could, but becoming noticeably stoked at some points during the talk. At times, he tended to ramble at length while sporting a gleeful grin, lending the whole talk a more lighthearted atmosphere.
Leading up the release of The Force Unleashed, Google has helped to keep the hype as real as hype gets with tie-ins and steady releases of content through various channels, especially YouTube. Those in some parts of Europe and other select regions are already able to see the movie, with a full release planned for the 18th, just in time for the Holidays. To say the new film has taken the internet by storm could definitely be called an understatement, leaving communities from MoviePilot to the infamous 4chan abuzz with theories, pre-reviews and even spoilers, a good portion of which are fake and presented in a tongue-in-cheek manner. Being the first in the storied Star Wars franchise to release during a time where the internet is ubiquitous, user-friendly and practically invades all aspect of life, it’s no shocker seeing excitement building to a fever pitch everywhere.