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John Boyega is issuing a message to Disney following his milestone foray into becoming the first-ever Black Stormtrooper in “The Force Awakens” – a feat the “Star Wars” franchise championed as a monumental leap forward for minority performers in its promotion of the 2014 blockbuster.
But the British-Nigerian actor said the experience was anything but inclusive and in an interview with British GQ, claimed that his role was relegated in comparison with his White co-stars.
“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,” Boyega told the magazine of his role as Finn, who appeared to be forging a longstanding relationship with the franchise until his character’s screen time was diminished considerably.
This photo provided by Disney/Lucasfilm shows Daisy Ridley, right, as Rey, and John Boyega as Finn, in a scene from the film, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," directed by J.J. Abrams. (David James/Disney/Lucasfilm via AP)
“It’s not good. I’ll say it straight up," he added.
The 28-year-old spoke to his time filming three “Star Wars” movies that felt like a dwindling stock when his role was all the rage in “The Force Awakens,” but then his usage fell off a cliff in subsequent installments “The Last Jedi” in 2017 and “The Rise of Skywalker” in 2019 – a trend that he didn’t see with co-stars Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley.
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“Like, you guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver,” said Boyega. “You knew what to do with these other people, but when it came to Kelly Marie Tran, when it came to John Boyega, you know f—k y’all.”
“So what do you want me to say?” he pressed. “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.”
Kelly Marie Tran purged her of Instagram over racist attacks from online trolls. (AP)
Boyega made a point to mention Tran, who after performing as a lead as Rose Tico, elected to remove herself from social media in 2018 when she received an onslaught of harassment from online bullies.
The “Pacific Rim Uprising” star also lamented the vile social media attacks he said he received during his time as a member of the franchise.
“I’m the only cast member who had their own unique experience of that franchise based on their race,” he said, adding, “Nobody else had the uproar and death threats sent to their Instagram DMs and social media, saying, ‘Black this and Black that’ and ‘You shouldn’t be a Stormtrooper.’”
The actor famously marched and spoke at a Black Lives Matter rally in London in June following the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police. The star said experiencing that type of hate alters a person’s psyche.
Actor John Boyega speaks to the crowd during a Black Lives Matter protest in Hyde Park on June 3, 2020, in London, the United Kingdom following the death of George Floyd. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
“Let’s just leave it like that. It makes you angry with a process like that. It makes you much more militant; it changes you,” Boyega said. “Because you realize, ‘I got given this opportunity but I’m in an industry that wasn’t even ready for me.’”
“Nobody else had that experience,” he maintained, “But yet people are surprised that I’m this way. That’s my frustration.”
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In July, Boyega suggested he was done with the franchise and had “moved on” from his role as Finn after one fan commented on Boyega’s “Back on set” Instagram post.
The fan’s comment reads: “Force Finn in action with Green lightsaber dressed in black is all I want from the next SW film!”
To which Boyega replied: “Lol no thank you. I’ve moved on [heart emoji].”
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Meanwhile, another Instagram user replied to Boyega’s post: “Really just got those Disney bucks and dipped [laugh crying emoji],” which elicited Boyega to respond: “Nope. Not into playing one role for too long. I have more to offer than that. That’s all.”
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