John Boyega Had "Honest Conversations" With Disney Over Racist Star Wars Backlash

Update (11/2/20) - During an interview for an upcoming episode of the Variety and iHeart podcast The Big Ticket, John Boyega confirmed that he had been having "honest conversations" with Disney executives after going public with his complaints that his Finn, the character he played in the last three films in the Skywalker Saga, was pushed aside, even after the studio portrayed him and his character as "much more important" than he actually ended up being. He also said that studios need to take a stand and be an "advocate for actors when they face backlash for their casting, especially when it revolves around race." "When one of your actors, especially an actor that’s so prominent in the story, is announced as part of your franchise and then it has a big racial backlash and receives abuse online and that starts to form a shadow on what is supposed to be an amazing gift, it is important for the studios to definitely lend their voice, lend their support to that and to have a sense of solidarity not just in the public eye, but on the ground on set," Boyega said. Boyega also reiterated that he is in no hurry to reprise his role as Finn. “At this moment, versatility is like the biggest thing for me right now,” Boyega said. “There are so many people I would really like to explore versatility [with], different roles and different characters. This is what I do. I enjoy what I do so to stay in one place could be sometimes hard.” Original story follows. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Star Wars actor John Boyega has criticised Disney for the treatment of his character in the franchise, particularly in comparison to his white co-stars who he says were given all of the "nuances." In a new interview with GQ magazine, Boyega reflected on his time playing Finn, the ex-Stormtrooper who joined forces with the Resistance in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, as he spoke about Disney's marketing of the character and the way that he felt he had been portrayed to be "much more important" in the space saga than he actually was, especially compared to other characters. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/10/the-star-wars-saga-timeline-in-chronological-order-through-rise-of-skywalker"] "It's so difficult to manoeuvre," Boyega explained. "You get yourself involved in projects and you're not necessarily going to like everything. [But] 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." The actor also acknowledged how other people of colour in the cast had suffered the same treatment in the franchise, as he highlighted the experiences of Naomi Ackie, Kelly Marie Tran and Oscar Isaac, who he calls "a brother from Guatemala," explaining that their stories were sidelined in favour of giving "all the nuance" to their white co-stars. "Like, you guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver," he said. "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*** 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." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-upcoming-star-wars-movie&captions=true"] As extracts of the interview started to circulate on social media, Boyega encouraged people to read the article in its entirety to gain a clear understanding of his perspective. He tweeted: "These conversations and me sharing isn't about a witch hunt. It's about clarity to an anger that can be seen as selfish, disruptive and self indulgent. Obviously in hopes of better change. Bruh. In short. I said what I said. Love to you all seriously. Your support is amazing." Now that his time in the Star Wars franchise has drawn to a close, Boyega is looking forward to starring on-screen in Steve McQueen's upcoming anthology series, Small Axe, in which he portrays police officer and anti-racism reformer, Leroy Logan. Boyega noted how McQueen had been struck by his impassioned speech at the Black Lives Matter protest earlier this year, and how working with him on set has felt like he's been "given the chance to breathe." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

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