--- --- # See Photos from _Star Wars_' John Boyega's Days as a Stock Image Model  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Jan 8, 2016 6:18 PM UTC  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Jan 8, 2016 6:18 PM UTC Before actor [John Boyega](http://time.com/4156067/star-wars-john-boyega-the-force-awakens-jj-abrams-lie/) was the face of the newest [_Star Wars_](http://time.com/4150168/review-star-wars-the-force-awakens/)film, he was the face of college-bound teens in stock photos for Getty Images. London-based photographer Chris Schmidt, who took the pictures, [posted a link](https://www.facebook.com/Chris.Schmidt.photography/posts/455056988022579) to one on Facebook last week and marveled at how far his former model had come. Another image in the collection appears in an ad for career services at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [according to](http://imgur.com/hlvxh2C) an image uploaded Thursday to the photo-sharing site Imgur by a user who claims to attend the school. (As one Redditor joked, “This advertisement is right up there, it is of the highest order. You might even say _the first order,_” referring to the group Boyega’s _Force Awakens_ character defects from to join the [Resistance](http://time.com/4147688/star-wars-force-awakens-what-we-know/).) On Twitter, the actor chimed in on the news, reported by [_Mashable_](http://mashable.com/2016/01/08/john-boyega-stock-photos/#3EMEvEFLqPqs)and [_The Huffington Post_](http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2016/01/08/teenage-john-boyega-once-did-a-getty-stock-photoshoo%5Fn%5F8937588.html?1452254638&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067)_,_ and said he spent the money he earned from the shoot on a new pair of sneakers: > [](https://twitter.com/JohnBoyega/status/685433690520956929) Here are the images featuring Boyega from the collection “further education”:  A group of 5 late-teenage school friends in a line with bright smiles and eye contact for the camera. Getty Images  Getty Images  Getty Images  Getty Images  Getty Images  Getty Images John Boyega Stock Photos ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4172971/star-wars-john-boyega-getty-stock-model/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4172971/star-wars-john-boyega-getty-stock-model/"},"headline":"See Photos from Star Wars' John Boyega's Days as a Stock Image Model","datePublished":"2016-01-08T18:18:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:46:44.043Z","description":"He was one of five \"late-teenage school friends in a line with bright smiles and eye contact for the camera.\"","url":"https://time.com/4172971/star-wars-john-boyega-getty-stock-model/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4172971/star-wars-john-boyega-getty-stock-model/","name":"See Photos from Star Wars' John Boyega's Days as a Stock Image Model"}}]}] ```