Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
■ Gloria Steinem called President Donald Trump the “harasser in chief” on the opening night of a sold-out women’s conference in Boston. The feminist icon on Wednesday addressed the wave of sexual harassment allegations against some of the nation’s most powerful men. Steinem said the actions are about power, not sex, and women are gaining their voices in a way that has never happened before. More than a dozen women have said Trump sexually assaulted or harassed them over the years, some going back decades. He has denied the allegations. Actresses Meryl Streep and Viola Davis are among prominent women scheduled to participate in the 13th annual Massachusetts Conference for Women.
■ John Boyega may have a lot in common with the character he plays in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but the actor says he was floored by a trip to a London toy store. The 25-year-old actor plays Finn, a former Stormtrooper who escapes the First Order to join the Resistance. Boyega originated the character in The Force Awakens. Boyega says that one of the most surprising experiences he had while making the latest Star Wars film was seeing a larger-than-life likeness of himself at the Toys R Us store he used to frequent as a kid. The actor had gone to find a gift for his newborn nephew when he came face to face with a giant cardboard cutout of himself as Finn. “There were toys everywhere, and I was just like, ‘Wow,’” Boyega said. “I’m on the shelf. It’s strange.” Boyega says he’s had some time to get used to the idea of seeing himself as an action figure. But that was only the beginning of The Last Jedi branding. “I recently went to the grocery store and saw myself on water,” he said. “That’s the biggest it gets for me. Everybody needs water, you know what I mean?” While he has gotten more accustomed to his place in the Star Wars universe, both he and his character remain awed by the scope of that world. “I feel like during the filming of The Last Jedi, we were kind of living parallels to our characters in a sense,” Boyega said. While he’s become known in the film industry, Finn “has this reputation and it’s hard for him to keep that up while still figuring himself out because he’s been labeled as a hero.”