Actor John Boyega claims that “Star Wars” fans are prejudiced against black actors and will only tolerate them being cast in minor roles.
The 33-year-old British star achieved global fame for his role as Finn in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (2015). Boyega made the remarks during the new Apple TV+ documentary “Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Leading Men in Hollywood.”
“Star Wars always had the vibe of being in the most whitest [sic], elite space,” the actor said, per Entertainment Weekly. “It’s a franchise that’s so white that a black person existing in [it] was something.”
Boyega said “Star Wars” movies did have black stars such as himself in them, but complained the roles were secondary and both the fans and the franchise heads were too quick to celebrate the inclusion.
“You can always tell it’s something when some Star Wars fans try to say, ‘Well, we had Lando Calrissian and had Samuel L. Jackson!’” he said. “It’s like telling me how many cookie chips are in the cookie dough. It’s like, they just scattered that in there, bro!”
Boyega added, “They’re okay with us playing the best friend, but once we touch their heroes, once we lead, once we trailblaze, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, it’s just a bit too much! They’re pandering!’”
Star Wars actor John Boyega attacks fans of the franchise as racist white elitists pic.twitter.com/s9zxszFwiR
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 1, 2025
He was upset that his character was not better developed and concluded that the fans didn’t want that to happen. Several commenters took issue with Boyega blaming the fans for his role being diminished, pointing out that they were also annoyed by Disney’s treatment of the franchise.
“John Boyega blaming fans instead of Disney’s disastrous handling of Star Wars is just lazy,” one person noted. “Fans aren’t rejecting the franchise because of race—they’re rejecting it because Hollywood keeps shoving a woke agenda down their throats at every turn. People are tired of studios prioritizing identity politics over good storytelling, and the box office numbers prove it. Instead of attacking the audience, maybe he should ask why so many lifelong Star Wars fans have walked away.”
“What’s terrible about this take is it is the complete opposite,” another person agreed. “Star Wars fans WANTED him to take up a bigger role, and work his way into becoming a Jedi. They completely shafted him for Rey’s BS story arc. His problem is with the fans and not the writers??”
“Another Hollywood crybaby playing the race card because his career isn’t skyrocketing. Star Wars fans don’t care about your skin color. They care about good stories, something Disney stopped delivering years ago,” echoed a third.
This isn’t the first time the actor has voiced his issues with the role he played in “Star Wars.” During a 2020 interview with British GQ, Boyega said he was disappointed that the character of Finn had a more prominent part in “The Force Awakens” and “The Last Jedi” (2017) compared to his part in “The Rise of Skywalker” (2019).
“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,” he told the outlet at the time.
“Like, you guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver,” he continued, saying those actors got all the “nuance” while his character did not. “You knew what to do with these other people, but when it came to Kelly Marie Tran, 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.”
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[[{“value”:”
Actor John Boyega claims that “Star Wars” fans are prejudiced against black actors and will only tolerate them being cast in minor roles.
The 33-year-old British star achieved global fame for his role as Finn in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (2015). Boyega made the remarks during the new Apple TV+ documentary “Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Leading Men in Hollywood.”
“Star Wars always had the vibe of being in the most whitest [sic], elite space,” the actor said, per Entertainment Weekly. “It’s a franchise that’s so white that a black person existing in [it] was something.”
Boyega said “Star Wars” movies did have black stars such as himself in them, but complained the roles were secondary and both the fans and the franchise heads were too quick to celebrate the inclusion.
“You can always tell it’s something when some Star Wars fans try to say, ‘Well, we had Lando Calrissian and had Samuel L. Jackson!’” he said. “It’s like telling me how many cookie chips are in the cookie dough. It’s like, they just scattered that in there, bro!”
Boyega added, “They’re okay with us playing the best friend, but once we touch their heroes, once we lead, once we trailblaze, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, it’s just a bit too much! They’re pandering!’”
Star Wars actor John Boyega attacks fans of the franchise as racist white elitists pic.twitter.com/s9zxszFwiR
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 1, 2025
He was upset that his character was not better developed and concluded that the fans didn’t want that to happen. Several commenters took issue with Boyega blaming the fans for his role being diminished, pointing out that they were also annoyed by Disney’s treatment of the franchise.
“John Boyega blaming fans instead of Disney’s disastrous handling of Star Wars is just lazy,” one person noted. “Fans aren’t rejecting the franchise because of race—they’re rejecting it because Hollywood keeps shoving a woke agenda down their throats at every turn. People are tired of studios prioritizing identity politics over good storytelling, and the box office numbers prove it. Instead of attacking the audience, maybe he should ask why so many lifelong Star Wars fans have walked away.”
“What’s terrible about this take is it is the complete opposite,” another person agreed. “Star Wars fans WANTED him to take up a bigger role, and work his way into becoming a Jedi. They completely shafted him for Rey’s BS story arc. His problem is with the fans and not the writers??”
“Another Hollywood crybaby playing the race card because his career isn’t skyrocketing. Star Wars fans don’t care about your skin color. They care about good stories, something Disney stopped delivering years ago,” echoed a third.
This isn’t the first time the actor has voiced his issues with the role he played in “Star Wars.” During a 2020 interview with British GQ, Boyega said he was disappointed that the character of Finn had a more prominent part in “The Force Awakens” and “The Last Jedi” (2017) compared to his part in “The Rise of Skywalker” (2019).
“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,” he told the outlet at the time.
“Like, you guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver,” he continued, saying those actors got all the “nuance” while his character did not. “You knew what to do with these other people, but when it came to Kelly Marie Tran, 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.”
“}]]
