‘Star Wars’ actor John Boyega talks new film, police brutality
John Boyega chats with USA TODAY’s Rasha Ali about “Red, White and Blue,” part of the Steve McQueen “Small Axe” film anthology.
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A decade after entering the galaxy far, far away, John Boyega reflects on racism in the “Star Wars” fandom.
In the new Apple TV+ documentary “Number One on the Call Sheet,” which focuses on Black leading men and women in Hollywood, the “They Cloned Tyrone” star, 33, looked back on facing racist backlash while playing Finn in the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy from 2015 to 2019.
“‘Star Wars’ always had the vibe of being in the most whitest, elite space,” Boyega said.
“This is a franchise that’s so white that a Black person existing in that was something. 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.’ That’s like telling me how many cookie chips are on the cookie dough. I’m like, ‘They just scattered that in there, bro!’”
Boyega went on to speak about the racist backlash his “Star Wars” casting sparked, saying, “They’re OK 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!’”
Boyega made his debut as Finn, a Stormtrooper who defects from the evil First Order to become a hero, in 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” He reprised the role in the two sequels, 2017’s “The Last Jedi” and 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker.”
His character was the first image to appear in the initial teaser trailer for “The Force Awakens,” prompting an immediate wave of racist backlash.
Boyega previously spoke about this backlash in a 2020 interview with Esquire, saying he is the “only cast member who had their own unique experience of that franchise based on their race.”
In that interview, he also expressed dissatisfaction with how his character was handled. He took issue with the marketing for “The Force Awakens,” heavily implying that Finn would be the main Jedi hero of the movie when this role was ultimately filled by Rey, a white character played by Daisy Ridley.
“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 said. “It’s not good. I’ll say it straight up.”
Before “The Force Awakens,” the most prominent Black characters in “Star Wars” were Billy Dee Williams’ Lando Calrissian from the original trilogy and Samuel L. Jackson’s Mace Windu, a Jedi, in the sequel trilogy. Over the past decade, the series has become more diverse with the addition of numerous new characters played by people of color, including Moses Ingram and Amandla Stenberg.
But several of these actors have spoken out about receiving racist backlash after joining the franchise. In August, Stenberg said her Disney+ “Star Wars” show “The Acolyte” was subject to “hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudiced hatred and hateful language” before its cancellation.
