Boyega: Disney didn’t know what to do with a black stormtrooper

JOHN BOYEGA has accused Disney of “pushing aside” his Star Wars character and not knowing “what to do with” a black actor.

The south London-born actor, 28, played Finn, the franchise’s first black stormtrooper, in the recent trilogy alongside Daisy Ridley’s Rey, and Kylo Ren, the villain played by Adam Driver.

However, Finn’s screen time diminished in sequel The Last Jedi and denouement The Rise of Skywalker.

In an interview with British GQ Boyega said: “You get yourself involved in projects and you’re not necessarily going to like everything.

“[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.”

Boyega claimed Disney, which distributes Star Wars, gave more “nuance” to his co-stars and suggested it did not know how to treat him as a black actor.

“Like, you guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver,” he said. “But when it came to Kelly Marie Tran (who played Rose Tico and has Vietnamese heritage), 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.” Boyega said his experience, as well as the abuse he received on social media, had made him more “militant” about racial inequality.

He continued: “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 realise, ‘I got given this opportunity but I’m in an industry that wasn’t even ready for me.’

“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.”

The trilogy’s main cast members are not expected to reprise their roles in the near future.

‘Nobody else had that experience. But yet people are surprised that I’m this way. That’s my frustration’