ACTOR PRAISES ‘DIVERSE’ FILM Star Wars battles racism

ED GLEAVE HOLLYWOOD actor Forest Whitaker says the latest Star Wars film strikes a blow for minorities.

He is back on the big screen in Rogue One, which was the biggest movie of last year and is still riding high at the box office.

The flick, which also features actors from Mexico and China and has a female lead, has been praised for its diversity.

Whitaker said: “I think it is really important that the studio was thinking that way with this film.

“It means they can show what the world is and the different cultures and colours that make it up.

“What I think is really interesting is the film has a very diverse cast that includes a female lead.

“You have a cast of characters who are people from all over the world come together to get behind one mission and a belief to make humanity better.

“And they win because of that, which is a good message to the world.”

The star feels racism is still a problem in the film industry generally.

Whitaker said: “It’s better now than it was before. But there are certainly places to go, depending on which country you’re in. You do get diversity in the States and France and in the UK.

“But there are places where the film industry is not as diverse. In many places it is still growing. It is still finding its way.”

Whitaker is known for starring in hit films including Panic Room, Phone Booth and The Last King of Scotland, for which he won an Oscar.

But he said working on a Star Wars film was the most exciting point of his career to date.

He said: “You can’t help but be excited about it. There’s a fantasy there that you have lived as a kid.

“You find yourself thinking, ‘Oh wow, there’s a fighter pilot, there’s a plane, there’s Darth Vader’.

“It’s crazy – how can you not be excited?”