John Boyega has revealed ''an own goal'' helped him land a part in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'.

The 23-year-old actor - who's been cast in the role of Finn in the J.J. Abrams-directed movie - has confessed he only turned to cinema when he realised he wasn't good enough to become a professional soccer player and managed to embarrassingly scored an own goal.

The London-born star told Entertainment Weekly: ''I tried to kick a ball because I thought I would able a footballer but I ended up scoring in our own goal!

''So I decided to just let that be ... perhaps I should try acting.''

What's more, John also credited his Pentecostal minister dad for helping him get into the Jedi mindset.

He explained: ''The discipline kind of got me into a universe of Jedi, and now I think I know how to have a foundation between the dark and the light.''

Meanwhile, Disney recently saw its share price climb by $2 billion following a two-minute clip of the much-discussed new movie.

The trailer premiered at an event in California earlier this month, with the movie set for release in December.