Star Wars: John Boyega Details Meeting With Disney Execs Following His Candid Interview

With the Star Wars sequel trilogy in the rear view mirror, franchise star John Boyega opened up earlier this year about his experiences working on the films and was very frank in speaking about his disappointments. Speaking with GQ UK at the time, Boyega detailed his disappointments with Star Wars: The Last Jedi shifting focus away from his character Finn and making him more of a supporting character while the marketing campaign was still positioning him to be the driving force of the narrative. In a more recent interview, the actor reveals that this quote resulted in a conversation happening between himself and a Disney executive.

“It was a very honest, a very transparent conversation,” Boyega said in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “There was a lot of explaining on their end in terms of the way they saw things. They gave me a chance also to explain what my experience was like. I’d hope that me being so open with my career, at this stage, would help the next man, the guy that wants to be the assistant DOP, the guy that wants to be a producer. I hope that the conversation is not such a taboo or elephant in the room now, because someone just came and said it.”

In the same interview Boyega opened up about how his perspective from being outside the Hollywood system, and then entering it, was one of the driving factors behind why he was so outspoken about his experience.

“I’m the type of person that came into an industry in which I felt there was, not to give it the L.A. stab, just a lot of pretense,” Boyega added. “I don’t roll like that. I’ve been in situations in life in which I know what it feels like to have your life at risk. There are deeper things going on here. I don’t care about trying to mesh in with the system in order to secretly work it. That’s just not my way. Everyone’s just got to have an honest and open conversation. It doesn’t have to be conflicting or rude, but it’s a chance for us to actually, really and truly understand where each other is coming from.”

Though the ending of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker no doubt leaves Finn in a place where Boyega could return to the world if he wanted, Boyega said that he was ready for life after the franchise (even before his eye-opening interview about his experiences).

“I’m ready for life after Star Wars,” Boyega told ComicBook.com with a laugh. “After Star Wars, that’s when the check clears. Life after Star Wars is about to be lit. It’s bittersweet because of the connections we made on set, the amazing people, important people to my life specifically Oscar [Issac] and Daisy [Ridley]. Now, I’m ready to see our relationships grow and flourish in the real world.”