John Boyega discusses calling out Star Wars racism

John Boyega has opened up about his decision to confront racism among the Star Wars fanbase.

The 33-year-old actor plays Finn, a Stormtrooper turned hero, in the Star Wars films The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.

However, he was the target of vile racist comments as some corners of the sci-fi film franchise’s fanbase turned toxic over his casting.

Asked by Us Weekly about calling out the racism he experienced, Boyega recounted, “I just didn’t like it. It just went against my point of view.

“I thought that, in my position, it’s great for people to know how we are related to this. As much as I’m in this position, I still have family friends who are in the real world; (not) in this Hollywood bubble.

“They get affected by these issues. So to not speak up about it, in my position, that made no real sense to me.”

Boyega previously hit back at the racist trolls that targeted him while working on the Star Wars films, telling GQ in 2020, “Nobody else in the cast had people saying they were going to boycott the movie because (they were in it).

“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.'”