Actor John Boyega is calling out racism surrounding the Star Wars franchise.
During an interview for the new Apple TV+ original documentary “Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Leading Men in Hollywood,” Boyega reflected on the racism he experienced while portraying Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker.
Boyega faced online harassment from Star Wars fans who were outraged by a Black actor playing a lead hero in the sequel trilogy.
“Lemme tell ya, ‘Star Wars’ always had the vibe of being in the most whitest, elite space. It’s a franchise that’s so white that a Black person existing in [it] was something,” Boyega said in the documentary. “You can always tell it’s something when some ‘Star Wars’ fans try to say, ‘Well, we had Lando Calrissian and had Samuel L. Jackson!’ It’s like telling me how many cookie chips are in the cookie dough. It’s like, they just scattered that in there, bro!”
Boyega suggested that fans are okay with Black actors serving as sidekicks but not main characters.
“They’re okay with us playing the best friend, but once we touch their heroes, once we lead, once we trailblaze, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, it’s just a bit too much! They’re pandering,’” he said.
Boyega is among several Star Wars actors who have faced racist attacks from fans of the franchise. Kelly Marie Tran was targeted by fans for portraying Rose Tico in The Last Jedi following the film’s 2017 release. Amandla Stenberg, who played twins Osha and Mae on The Acolyte, also received online hate over her role in the Disney+ series.
In 2020, Boyega spoke out about the way Disney handled his character in his Star Wars trilogy during an interview with GQ.
“What I would say to Disney is do not bring out a Black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are, and then have them pushed to the side. It’s not good. I’ll say it straight up,” he said.
“You guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver,” Boyega continued. “But when it came to Kelly Marie Tran, when it came to John Boyega, you know fuck all. So what do you want me to say? What they want you to say is, ‘I enjoyed being a part of it. It was a great experience…’ Nah, nah, nah. I’ll take that deal when it’s a great experience. They gave all the nuance to Adam Driver, all the nuance to Daisy Ridley. Let’s be honest. Daisy knows this. Adam knows this. Everybody knows. I’m not exposing anything.”
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