Former Star Wars actor John Boyega made it no secret that he had a rough time in the franchise during his starring run in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy. Boyega’s character, defected Stormtrooper Finn, was setup to be a headlining character of the new Star Wars franchise – but there was also some ugly backlash to Star Wars putting a black character at the forefront. Boyega was vocal in his displeasure over how, he felt, Lucasfilm didn’t do enough to publicly support him and/or buffer him from racist trolls or even foreign markets where his face and presence in the promotional materials were altered.
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Unfortunately, John Boyega wasn’t the last Star Wars actor to face discrimination: Boyega’s co-star Kelly Marie Tran suffered intense harassment after making her debut as Rose Tico in The Last Jedi; more recently, Obi-Wan Kenobi star Moses Ingram got so much harassment for her role as Inquisitor Reva Sevander (aka Third Sister) that Lucasfilm stepped out in front of her to publicly denounce the toxic fans:
“We are proud to welcome Moses Ingram to the Star Wars family and excited for Reva’s story to unfold,” Lucasfilm stated over official social media accounts. “If anyone intends to make her feel in any way unwelcome, we have only one thing to say: we resist. There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist.”
Well, John Boyega has seen the way that Lucasfilm is now supporting its more diverse cast members, and he’s not afraid to take his (well-deserved) fair share of the credit:
“I’m the one that brought this to the freaking forefront.” Boyega told Men’s Health in August, “At least the people going into it now, after my time, [they’re] cool … [Lucasfilm is] going to make sure you’re well supported and at least you [now] go through this franchise knowing that everybody is going to have [your] back. I’m glad I talked out everything at that time.”
Now Boyega is celebrating how far things have come, in terms of Star Wars protecting its actors:
“Moses Ingram being protected makes me feel protected,” Boyega told THR. “It makes me feel like, ‘OK, cool. I am not the elephant in the room.’ Because when I started, it wasn’t really a conversation you could bring up. It was kind of like, let’s just be silent. It wasn’t a conversation you could bring up. But now to see how blatant it is, to see Ewan McGregor come and support… for me, [it] fulfills my time where I didn’t get the support.”
It’s good to see Boyega being validated in this kind of way. The actor also touched on why his understanding of the sacrifices a trailblazer must make keeps him grounded:
“It doesn’t make me feel bitter at all. It makes me feel like sometimes you are that guy, and my dad taught me that. Sometimes you’re not the guy to get the blessing and sometimes you are [biblical] Moses,” Boyega explained. “You lead the people to the mountain, but you see the destination. You don’t get to go in, you get others to go in. And that’s where you get your happiness from.”
The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy with John Boyega and Obi-Wan Kenobi series with Moses Ingram are both streaming on Disney+.
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Image Courtesy of Lucasfilm
