Red, White and Blue’ subject Leroy Logan talks ‘Small Axe,’ John Boyega and his new memoir

John Boyega as Leroy Logan in “Red, White and Blue.” (Will Robson Scott/Amazon Prime Video)

THE WASHINGTON POST-4 December 2020

A decade before John Boyega was cast as Leroy Logan, a founding member of the United Kingdom’s Black Police Association, he got a career-making break — at the expense, it turned out, of Logan’s son Myles.

When the science-fiction thriller “Attack the Block” was in development ahead of its 2011 release, Logan says his son responded to a casting call for “streetwise” London teens and advanced to the final round of auditions for the lead role. But Boyega ultimately got the part, delivering a breakout performance that paved the way for his “Star Wars” stardom, and Myles moved on from his brief flirtation with acting.

“I knew of John from then,” says Logan, 63. “So when we finally met in 2019, before [‘Small Axe’] started, we got on like we’d known each other for years. I feel like a kindred spirit with John.”