Star Wars Execs Warned Moses Ingram About 'Racist' Trolls Ahead Of 'Kenobi'

Actress Moses Ingram is living every actor’s dream: she is appearing in a “Star Wars” project.

Ingram has been cast as the Force Sensitive Inquisitor Reva, who has been tasked by the Grand Inquisitor for hunting down the Jedi after Order 66 in the upcoming Disney+ series “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

Although fans are excited to see stars Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen reprise their role from the prequel series, the fandom hasn’t exactly been kind to actors of color in recent years. In 2015, when “The Force Awakens” kicked off the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy, John Boyega received substantial backlash online for playing a Black stormtrooper-turned-Resistance-fighter.

By the time “The Last Jedi” rolled around in 2017, Kelly Marie Tran, who played Rose Tico, quit social media entirely after the negative reception of her character. Although some of the reaction was based on her character and not her ethnicity, the harassment that she received was enough to force her to leave social media entirely.

In a recent interview with The Independent ahead of the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” premiere on Disney+, Ingram revealed that Lucasfilm executives warned her that she would receive harassment online due to her race.

“It was something that Lucasfilm actually got in front of, and said, ‘This is a thing that, unfortunately, likely will happen,” Ingram said. “But we are here to help you; you can let us know when it happens.”

Ingram has received plenty of accolades for her acting in the past. She won an Emmy for her role in “The Queen’s Gambit” and was even nominated for an Academy Award for her role in “The Tragedy of Macbeth.” However, this is Ingram’s first venture into a galaxy far, far away.

Ingram praised director Deborah Chow, saying that she put “the proper systems in place so I feel safe as we do the work.”

“Of course, there are always pockets of hate,” Ingram added. “But I have no problem with the block button.”

“‘Obi-Wan’ is going to bring the most diversity I think we’ve ever seen in the galaxy before. To me, it’s long overdue,” she added. “If you’ve got talking droids and aliens, but no people of color, it doesn’t make any sense. It’s 2022, you know. So we’re just at the beginning of that change. But I think to start that change is better than never having started it.”

In a previous interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ingram said that her role is “going to mean a lot to a lot of people.”

“It's important that when we turn on the TV, we see the world that we live in reflected back to us in what we're seeing,” she continued. “Representation is so important, and I feel so blessed that I get to be the vehicle that this character comes forth through. I am not worthy.”

When asked if she pays attention to the fan reactions to her character in the trailer, Ingram replied, “Yeah, it's twofold, so I try to mind my business.”

“There's a lot of love out there and I'm grateful for the love. And there are also, unfortunately, pockets of hate,” she added. “But when they go low, they expect us to shut up and take it. And personally, I don't want to get stuck in muck, so I don't get too far into that.”

The first two episodes of “Obi-Wan Kenobi” premiere on Friday, May 27, on Disney+.