John Boyega criticizes how Star Wars trilogy handled Finn & people of color

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

John Boyega is not an actor to shy away from voicing his opinion.  The actor, who became known by some for his role in ATTACK THE BLOCK but became a household name when he took on the role of Finn in the new STAR WARS trilogy, recently did a "GQ" interview and he's not mincing any words about how his character and other characters of color were treated during the SKYWALKER experience.

Despite each entry of the new trilogy grossing over $1 billion at the worldwide box office, the three installments of Disney's new take on STAR WARS proved to be divisive for many people. THE LAST JEDI is the most polarizing of the bunch but even THE FORCE AWAKENS and THE RISE OF SKYWALKER have been leveled with their fair share of criticism as well. As it turns out, these criticisms don't just come from the fans. Even the actors have their issues with the films and Boyega isn't afraid to publicly comment on his issues with the new STAR WARS movies.

During the "GQ" interview, Boyega discussed STAR WARS' poor handling of people of color in the films, including himself, Kelly Marie Tran, Oscar Isaac, and Naomi Ackie. Boyega believes that Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver were given "all the nuance" in their characters while the others were completely sidelined:

"[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. Like, 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. 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.”

I know this is a very touchy subject and it's bound to be divisive for some but I have to say I do agree with Boyega on a few key points. I do agree that his character was introduced in THE FORCE AWAKENS as someone who seemed much more important to the narrative only to be relatively sidelined in the next two films and regulated to the role of sidekick. He didn't really seem to have his own story and granted, Daisy Ridley is the star of the film. There is no doubt about that but that doesn't mean that Finn or Oscar Isaac's Poe Dameron can't have nuance and significant character development as well. 

Boyega had to deal with the issue of race the moment he was cast in THE FORCE AWAKENS and especially once the film was released and became a worldwide behemoth. Boyega touches on that with the following statement:

"I’m the only cast member who had their own unique experience of that franchise based on their race. 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. Because you realize, ‘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. That’s my frustration."

Kelly Marie Tran, who played Rose Tico in THE LAST JEDI and seemed to be being set up as a sort of love interest for Finn, really dealt with the harsh criticism of STAR WARS fans. What began as complaints about her character and her role in the film, quickly morphed to demeaning references about her race that really exposed the ugly side of fan culture. It isn't enough to be displeased with a character, some fans have to go much harsher with their complaints and suddenly the attacks aren't on Rose Tico but on the young lady tasked to play her. I'm not really sure Disney did enough to address this issue and what didn't help was that her role in the next film, THE RISE OF SKYWALKER, was diminished to that of a glorified cameo with the actress regulated to looking worried in the background. Was this the original plan for a character that seemed to be a bit more important in the previous film? I tend to doubt it but I also don't think the powers that be would acknowledge that was the case. At least Disney did SOMETHING to make this up to Tran. The actress will now be the first Southeast Asian actress to lead a Disney animated film after replacing Cassie Steele in Disney's RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON.

Judging from the "GQ" interview, Boyega has come out of the whole experience a better person because he realized he isn't one to stand by and just be silent. He has to be aware that some of these comments may make an entity like Disney think twice about casting him in another big project but his integrity is much more important to him than the work. I think that's something to be admired and hopefully, he's rewarded with the right projects for having the guts to let his opinion be known.