John Boyega has announced the birth of his first son after revealing that he secretly married his girlfriend two years ago.
The actor, 34, is best known for his role as Finn in the Star Wars sequel trilogy as well as performances in BBC One’s Small Axe, 2022’s The Woman King and Netflix’s Love, Death & Robots.
While Boyega tends to keep his personal life private, he shared a rare update to Instagram on Wednesday (14 October), announcing the birth of his first child.
“Our bundle of joy has been with us for some time now but thank you for the well wishes,” he wrote on Instagram, alongside photos of him with American wife Tae Heckard and a video with his newborn.
“Also my sister is about to pop! Wish her well too! Back to feeding this big baby!”
The post follows Boyega’s recent interview with The Guardian, in which he revealed that he married his girlfriend, 48-year-old actor Heckard, in 2024.
“I’ve been married for coming up to two years now,” he said. “My baby’s on the way. We got a baby cooking.”
In the interview, published earlier this month, he confirmed that the couple were having a baby boy and that he also has a young stepson from Heckard’s previous relationship with NBA player Brandon Jennings. “So, you know, my life is completely, completely fulfilled in terms of family. It’s been so nice with the timing,” he said.
Heckard, who is now Tae Boyega, is best known for appearing in music videos for Busta Rhymes, Ginuwine and Ne-Yo as well as Netflix sitcom #BlackAF, BET’s The Game and the 2006 film ATL.
Peckham-born Boyega hasn’t revealed much about his dating life in the past, but did say in 2022 that he would “only date Black [women]” and is “very disciplined in the type of women I speak to”.
“I only date Black, then it’s about chemistry, personality, goals. Is there a synergy? Can I help you? Can you help me?” he told GQ at the time.
He recently appeared in BBC documentary Damilola: The Untold Story, in which he spoke about being one of the last people to see Damilola Taylor alive. The boy was just 10 when he died from stab wounds in the stairwell of his North Peckham Estate home in 2000 – with the killing and years-long search for justice becoming one of the most high-profile British criminal cases in recent years.
Danny and Ricky Preddie, brothers who were 12 and 13 at the time, were later convicted of manslaughter over his death in 2006.
Boyega said that Taylor’s killing inspired him to pursue acting. “I quickly found what I wanted to do soon after Damilola’s death. At 10 years old, I got my scholarship to Theatre Peckham,” he said.
“I was in pursuit of this from that moment forward because of the reality of what could potentially happen. I was exposed to a lot so at a very young age, I knew what I wanted to do because I had individuals who inspired that.”
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