Why John’s Boyega’s ‘So White’ ‘Star Wars’ Criticism Is Spot-On

Actor John Boyega is once again calling out "Star Wars" for its treatment of diverse characters.

The 33-year-old British actor played the former Stormtrooper Finn in 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and reprised his role in 2017’s “The Last Jedi” and “The Rise of Skywalker,” which put an end to the nine-episode Skywalker Saga.

As part of the new Apple TV+ original documentary “Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Leading Men in Hollywood,” John Boyega reminded fans that his role in “Star Wars” was met with toxic harassment when they thought he was playing a lead in the franchise.

“Lemme tell ya, ‘Star Wars’ always had the vibe of being in the most whitest, elite space. It’s a franchise that’s so white that a Black person existing in [it] was something,” Boyega said in the documentary, as per Entertainment Weekly.

“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!’ It’s like telling me how many cookie chips are in the cookie dough,” he said. “It’s like, they just scattered that in there, bro!”

“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,'” he continued, admitting that being cast in the franchise was a “fundamental moment” in his career.

This isn’t the first time that Boyega has expressed his discontent with how he was treated by Lucasfilm. In 2020, he told GQ magazine that his character of Finn was sidelined in order to promote Daisy Ridley, who played Rey, and Adam Driver, who played Kylo Ren/Ben Solo.

“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,” he said at the time.

“You guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver,” Boyega continued. “But when it came to Kelly Marie Tran, when it came to John Boyega, you know f-ck all,” he continued, referring to Tran’s character of Rose Tico.

“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 added. “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.”

A Disney executive reached out to Boyega following his comments, which led to “a very honest, a very transparent conversation.” Boyega told The Hollywood Reporter that “There was a lot of explaining on their end in terms of the way they saw things.”

“They gave me a chance also to explain what my experience was like. I’d hope that me being so open with my career, at this stage, would help the next man, the guy that wants to be the assistant DOP, the guy that wants to be a producer,” he continued. “I hope that the conversation is not such a taboo or elephant in the room now, because someone just came and said it.”

The harassment of John Boyega came in the very first “The Force Awakens” trailer, when he removed his Stormtrooper helmet. Racist comments immediately started popping up on YouTube and social media, but it hasn’t stopped with the end of “The Rise of Skywalker,” which marked the last “Star Wars” movie shown in theaters in 2019.

In 2022, Moses Ingram, who played the Force-sensitive Inquisitor Reva, called out the harassment that she received online. Ingram said that Lucasfilm execs warned her that she would "likely" receive harassment for her role, but she did not prepare for just how much she would receive.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi” star Ewan McGregor later attempted to defend his costar from the harassment, while the official “Star Wars” Twitter account posted, “There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist.”

In 2024, “The Acolyte” faced heavy criticism for being too “woke” amid allegations that the show focused too heavily on diversity and inclusion while sacrificing storytelling. One often-criticized scene came in episode 4, when a character asks, “Is he, or they, with us?” which some attributed to be a play on proper pronoun usage regarding an animal. The show was not renewed for a second season.

Although it seems that Disney has made an effort to include a more inclusive cast, the majority of the fanbase still seems set on continuing the legacy of past portrayals; the original “Star Wars” trilogy had a predominantly white cast, while actors of color (and aliens) were often given supporting roles and not as much depth.

Given the criticism surrounding “The Acolyte,” it’s likely that Lucasfilm will rethink its strategy as it starts to move away from Disney+ shows and attempts to enter theaters once again. Whether or not diversity will play a role in the Rey movie planned to take place after “The Rise of Skywalker” is anyone’s guess, but judging by Boyega’s comments, he has little to no interest in reprising his role as Finn.

In the words of Oscar Isaac, who played headstrong pilot Poe Dameron, he might return to a galaxy far, far away “if I need another house or something.”