John Boyega cried when he first read the script for 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'.

The 23-year-old actor has opened up about auditioning for the role of Jedi-in-training Finn in the highly-anticipated film to confess he couldn't hold back his tears when he read the plot.

He said: ''When I read the script I cried, and I'm not really a big crier ... I'm more like a frog-in-the-throat kind of guy, who'll try to hold it in and make sure I don't let it all out.''

The up-and-coming star also compared auditioning for the movie - which is directed by J.J. Abrams - to competing in a talent show.

He told GQ Style magazine: ''I was unleashed into seven months of auditions.

''It was like 'The X Factor' but without the TV show around it. It was intense.''

And although Boyega - who previously starred in 2011 film 'Attack The Block' - and his co-stars are sworn to secrecy when it comes to revealing details of the upcoming movie, he's described his character as ''quirky and charismatic and funny''.

He added: ''Finn is dope. He is a heightened Hollywood leading man version of myself; his story is so epic.''