What’s up guys, it’s Sussan Mourad with Clevver News, and Star Wars actor John Boyega
stole the hearts of many over the past few years, but in a new tell-all interview, John
is detailing the unfair treatment he received at the hands of Disney solely due to his race.
What many perceived John Boyega’s portrayal of the first-ever Black stormtrooper in the
final Star Wars trilogy installments as a “cinematic milestone,” according to John
that was hardly the case if you were to walk a mile in his footsteps following the success
of 2014’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
In a new interview with British GQ, John opened up about his character Finn being portrayed
as less important compared to his white co-stars, who also happen to be the film’s lead characters,
in the three final installments of the series.
Despite the fact that Disney illustrated Finn to be crucial to the plot of the films, He
said QUOTE, “They gave all the nuance to Adam Driver, all the nuance to Daisy Ridley.”
John went on to add, “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.”
Many fans may have noticed that following The Force Awakens, Finn’s appearance in
The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker slowly began to decline, putting much more emphasis
on Daisy Ridley’s character, Rey Skywalker.
But it was John’s next comments that came as quite a shock, to which he mentioned the
slew of racist comments he continues to receive over his role.
He said, “I’m the only cast member who had their own unique experience of that franchise
based on their race. 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.’”
John went on to state that this only fueled his anger that much more, adding that he felt
this situation changed him.
He also noted that his fellow supporting actress, Kelly Marie Tran AKA Rose Tico, who is Vietnamese,
also took a backseat to their fellow white leads, saying, “‘Like, you guys knew what
to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver,” adding that when it
came him and Kelly, it was like “f - - k y’all.”
Back in 2018, Kelly, who happens to be the first woman of color with a major role in
a Star Wars film, actually quit social media due to harassment and harsh criticism from
online trolls.
John continued to reflect on his and his costar’s treatment due to their race, saying, “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.”
John has been a strong advocate for racial injustice as he recently spoke at a Black
Lives Matter rally in London back in June following the death of George Floyd.
During his powerful speech, John said QUOTE, “Every black person in here remembers when
another person reminded you that you were black.”
He began tearing up as he relayed to the crowd the pain he and millions have endured through
the years, adding, “I need you to understand how painful this s–t is… to be reminded
every day that your race means nothing. That is never the case anymore.”
John was even willing to put his acting career on the line, saying, “I’m speaking to
you from the heart. Look, I don’t know if I’m going to have a career after this, but
f–k that!”
Following John’s interview with GQ, fans began to rally behind him on social media,
claiming that he deserved much better in the Star Wars films.
One fan tweeted, “There’s always been an unsaid ‘shut up and be grateful that
you’re here’ mentality with marginalized performers and I’m glad John Boyega continues
to say ‘lol no.’”
Another user wrote, “I’m only going to say this once: If John Boyega said that The
Last Jedi was a racist movie, that his and the rest of characters of colour were treated
like shit and that his experience while working on it wasn’t good… IT IS WHAT IT IS!!!!!!!!”
Followed by, “NOBODY!!!!! and yes, i said NOBODY!!!!!!! has the right to question his
words nor his feelings nor his experiences!!!!”
Another person took note of the movie posters slapped across billboards and news outlets,
writing, “Friendly reminder these were the posters for Force Awakens. This was pure bait
and switch like John Boyega said. Most of us were thinking Finn was going to be a Jedi.”
Like John, we need to continue to use our voices to bring awareness to the many instances
of racism occuring every day around the world, and we applaud him for his persistent efforts
in doing so.
For more breaking Hollywood news updates, you can click right over here to watch another
Clevver video.
Then be sure to let me know all your thoughts on John’s interview with GQ down here in
the comments, and if you were surprised by what he had to say.
I’m your host Sussan Mourad, bye guys.