John Boyega Makes Peace With The Way ‘Star Wars’ Treated Finn

Actor John Boyega is making peace with the way Disney's "Star Wars" treated his character Finn years after the sequel trilogy wrapped up.

Although the 31-year-old had a major role in 2015's "The Force Awakens," he saw a smaller and smaller role in 2017's "The Last Jedi" and 2019's "The Rise of Skywalker," which wrapped up the nine-episode Skywalker Saga.

In a recent interview with The Times (via CBR), John Boyega reflected on what it was like playing a First Order Stormtrooper turned Resistance hero.

"For me, Star Wars has made the man, in a sense," Boyega said. "The experiences, the fun times, good times, ugly times, bad times, it makes you who you are as you navigate through the industry, and that has definitely been interesting."

“I feel like the arc that J.J. tried to tie up, that’s where I feel comfortable with the release of him," Boyega continued. J.J. Abrams directed the first film, “The Force Awakens” and took over from Colin Trevorrow to create the last film, “The Rise of Skywalker.” Rian Johnson, now best known for the “Knives Out” franchise, created 2017’s divisive “The Last Jedi.”

There have been no Star Wars films released in theaters since 2019. Instead, Disney has been focusing on several Disney+ shows, which include “The Mandalorian,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” “The Book of Boba Fett,” “Andor,” and several others that are still in development.

"Since then, I’ve been able to enjoy, as a fan, The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi,” Boyega said. “I’m enjoying the balance of all things."

In 2020, less than a year after “The Rise of Skywalker” hit theaters, John Boyega put Disney on blast for the way they treated him and his character, alleging that they “knew what to do” with Daisy Ridley, who played Rey, and Adam Driver, who played the villainous Kylo Ren and the redeemed Ben Solo in an interview with GQ magazine.

"Do not bring out a black character, market them to be much more important to the franchise than they are, and then have them pushed to the side. It’s not good," Boyega said at the time. "Like, you guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver. 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*ck 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,” he went on. “They gave all the nuance to Adam Driver, all the nuance to Daisy Ridley. Let's be honest. Daisy knows this. Adam knows this. Everybody knows. I'm not exposing anything."

Since that time, however, Boyega told the BBC (via CBR) that he has gotten on the phone with Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy to discuss his concerns with how the franchise treats characters of color.

"So I got on a phone call with Kathleen Kennedy [Lucasfilm President] and she verbally showed support and we got to have a really nice, transparent, honest conversation that is beneficial to both of us," Boyega told the BBC later that year. "I think these kinds of conversations, you can go into the realm of sounding like you’re just trying to save your own career, but what is great now is that it is a conversation that anyone has access to."

"Now people can express themselves about this knowing that any character we love, especially in these big franchises like the Marvels and Star Wars, we love them because of the moments that they are given, we love them because of those moments, and they’re heroic moments that these producers all decide for these characters so we need to see that in our characters that are maybe black and from other cultures," he continued.

In an August 2022 interview with Vanity Fair, Boyega said that he is still a fan of the franchise. “People always get shocked! Industry issues have nothing to do with Star Wars and me being a fan of it. I've been watching Obi-Wan, I've been watching The Mandalorian,” he said.

"I'm still forever going to be a fan of this franchise. As far as Finn is concerned? I'm good on that,” he added, saying that he would support his costars if they chose to make a return to a galaxy far, far away. As far as he’s concerned, though, he has no plans to play Finn again.

"At this point, I’m cool off it. I’m good off it," Boyega said in an August 2022 interview with SiriusXM’s Tell Me Everything With John Fugelsang when asked if he would play the character again. "I think Finn is at a good confirmation point where you can just enjoy him in other things, the games, the animation. But I feel like '[Episode] VII' to '[Episode] IX' was good for me."