In a new interview with GQ, actor John Boyega opened up about his experience working on the Star Wars franchise, saying his character was “marketed to be much more important than it was” and then pushed aside.
Calling his feelings about the franchise “difficult to manoeuvre,” Boyega went on to say that the way his character was treated was “not good”. In his words:
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.
He further stated that the same can be said for the treatment of Kelly Marie Tran, Naomi Ackie, and Oscar Isaac’s characters. He said:
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You guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver. 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. 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. 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.
He stated further in the interview that his experience on Star Wars changed him, making him “much more militant”.
It makes you angry with a process like that. It makes you much more militant; it changes you. Because you realise, ‘I got given this opportunity, but I’m in an industry that wasn’t even ready for me.’ Nobody else in the cast had people saying they were going to boycott the movie because [they were in it]. 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.’ Nobody else had that experience. But yet people are surprised that I’m this way.
After the interview was posted online, John 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!
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