John Boyega praises Damilola Taylor for helping him to be 'unrealistic with his dreams' as he shares poignant poem school friend wrote before he was killed aged ten

John Boyega has praised Damilola Taylor for leaving a legacy of being 'unrealistic with your dreams' as he shared a poignant poem written by his school friend.

The Star Wars actor was one of the last people to see the ten-year-old boy alive before he was fatally stabbed in Peckham, south-east London, in November 2000.

They became friends at Oliver Goldsmith Primary School after Damilola moved from Nigeria a few months before his death, with both boys' families of Yoruba descent.

Boyega, who lived on the same estate, has spoken about his friend in a new BBC documentary and revealed a poem Damilola wrote which they would recite together.

The poem said: 'I will travel far and wide to choose my destiny and remould the world; I know it is my destiny to defend the world, which I hope to achieve in my lifetime.'

Damilola, who wanted to have a career in the medical profession, was killed by two boys aged 12 and 13 while on his way home from the library. He was found bleeding to death in a stairwell after being stabbed in the leg with a broken beer bottle.

In an exclusive clip shared with the Daily Mail today, Boyega spoke about how Damilola's legacy had helped him push to achieve a successful career on screen.

The 34-year-old actor said: 'A few names that have come from Peckham have gone on to create and do amazing things, and when people ask me "what's in the water"?

John Boyega speaks about his friend in the new BBC documentary'Damilola: The Untold Story'

Damilola Taylor was fatally stabbed just yards from his home in Peckham, south-east London

Damilola in a lift with John and Grace Boyega (blurred) in CCTV footage shortly before he died

'I always go, well, it seems to me as if it's a double-edged sword in a sense. On one end you have - especially over those years - the extreme poverty, the lack of opportunity.

'But on the other end, the reason why we are beneficiaries of such success is because there were individuals that noticed that. And if there is no sense of scaling, being better, aspiring for something more, then the fear that cripples this community can catch you.'

Boyega, who was eight at the time of the death, added: 'The career I wanted has taken me all over the world. Damilola's legacy to me means being able to be unrealistic with your dreams. He wrote a poem, we used to recite it all the time at Oliver Goldsmith School.

'Damilola didn't listen to the fear, he didn't. From that poem, he had plans and he honestly came across as if he didn't care about the environment that he was. He was more so fixated on where he was going. So what's my excuse?'

He also told the documentary that the prospect of being stabbed 'was a consistent thing in my mind' while growing up - saying: 'I'm going to be on Rye Lane, near the Peckham multiplex, opposite the McDonald's, and someone's going to come and do that to me.'

Boyega also spoke about Damilola during an event at Bafta in London last month.

Speaking alongside his sister Grace Boyega, who also knew Damilola and was ten at the time, he told the audience about youth violence in the area at the time.

Boyega said he was 'directly impacted and affected' by Damilola's killing as well as incidents involving others, adding: 'I came close to it myself a good few times.

'Grace came close to it herself, we grew up in a really interesting time. So, I just wanted people to see the journey and to see several different paths that such an event can lead to.' 

John Boyega during a Q&A event for the new Damilola Taylor documentary at Bafta in London

(From left) Grace Boyega, Damilola's brother Tunde Taylor, John Boyega, director Alex Thomas, BBC presenter Tina Daheley and former Metropolitan Police superintendent Dr Leroy Logan 

The panellists talk about Damilola Taylor during the event at Bafta in London on September 16

John Boyega was one of the last people who saw Damilola alive before the killing in 2000

Boyega also discussed how young he was at the time of Damilola's death, adding: 'It's been a short life but a long life for me because of the extremes of my experiences so far, both good and bad, they have been extremes.

'Whether they've been incredibly low or incredibly high... it is a lot and it gives you a very big perspective on life.

'You've lived several different lives, even now at 34, it still feels like I've lived longer than that just because of what you've been exposed to and the experiences that you've been inspired by, all the experiences that have affected me in a negative way.

'But all in all, it was good to watch this and remember that despite that, there was growth, which motivated me to take part in something that was a positive thing.'

He said the documentary had helped him with remembering that 'it's always good to come back home, remember who you are, what grounds you and what the motivating factor for you to go to do what you did was in the first place'.

Boyega added: 'Peckham, as much as there was that negativity there, I cannot help but highlight the people who got their bootstraps together and said 'I'm going to do what I can'.

'Regardless of where you go, remember your origin stories, because it will guide you through anywhere really.'

Speaking about why he chose to talk about Damilola's stabbing in the documentary, Boyega also said: 'I guess I was pretty much inspired by the team that was put together and the intention behind it.

'I know previously there had been several different documentaries about Damilola, all of which I watched, but I guess it just felt like the right time to talk about the origin story of not only this case, but a lot of people that were surrounding in that area.

'I think it was important for people to see what had happened and the effects of that situation, and it was packaged together really, really well.

Damilola was found bleeding to death in a stairwell in Peckham after being stabbed in the leg

Boyega became friends with Damilola at Oliver Goldsmith Primary School in Peckham

'I believe in the intention, I think this is quite a positive film, as well as it being informative, and I just wanted to support something that I felt like long-term would have a positive impact.'

Sitting alongside him, Grace added: 'It's hard because you have to unlock stuff that you've kept closed for so many years. Just having to relive that whole experience has been a lot, but again like John said there is hope.

'There has been hope, especially with this documentary it shows that there is hope. Life is a choice – you can decide to go this way or go that way.'

Joining Boyega and Grace on the panel were Damilola's brother Tunde Taylor, the documentary's director Alex Thomas and BBC presenter Tina Daheley.

Also present was former Metropolitan Police superintendent Dr Leroy Logan, who was once chair of the Black Police Association and investigated Damilola's killing.

The programme will explore the final hours of Damilola's life and the impact his death had on those who knew him – including Boyega, who speaks with Grace and his other friends about the culture of Peckham in 2000 and their fears after the boy's death.

Boyega first spoke publicly about Damilola in 2024, saying he was motivated to do so following the death of the boy's father Richard Taylor aged 75 with prostate cancer.

The former Nigerian civil servant dedicated years to helping disadvantaged children in the wake of his son's death, and set up a charity to campaign against knife crime.

Mr Taylor established the Damilola Taylor Trust with his wife Gloria and continued its work after she died in 2008 following a heart attack. The charity is now run by Tunde. 

Damilola's two killers, brothers Ricky (left) and Danny Preddie, were jailed for manslaughter

Damilola's funeral cortege travels towards All Saints Church in Plumstead in January 2001

Other close friends and family members will also appear in the documentary with an account of the events that led to the death and how the killing affected their lives.

The film retraces Damilola's final day and examines the environment shaping the lives of those around him, as well as the increase in knife-related crimes since his death.

It will revisit the investigation, from the collapse of the original prosecution to the discovery of microscopic forensic evidence that eventually led to two convictions.

After three crown court trials, Damilola's two killers, Ricky and Danny Preddie, were finally put behind bars after being found guilty of manslaughter in 2006.

The brothers were both jailed for eight years at the Old Bailey. Ricky was released in September 2010 and Danny was let out one year later.

Mr Thomas said: 'Damilola's story has never been told through the experience of the young people who were living it at the time.

'This film shows what it meant to grow up in an environment shaped by fear, bullying and the need to protect yourself — and how those pressures influenced the choices people made.

'Twenty-five years on, those experiences still stay with them, and many of those pressures still exist for young people today.'

Jack Bootle, the BBC's head of commissioning for specialist factual, added: 'The killing of Damilola Taylor shocked the UK and changed the lives of those closest to him forever.

'This film traces their stories - and honours Damilola's memory through the voices of those who knew him best.'

'Damilola: The Untold Story' will air on BBC Two tonight at 9pm and is on iPlayer