John Boyega Says His Star Wars Character Was "Pushed To The Side" By Disney

John Boyega felt "pushed to the side" in the 'Star Wars' sequel trilogy.

The 28-year-old actor played Finn in the money-spinning sci-fi movies, but John still feels frustrated by how his character was pushed to the periphery towards the end of the trilogy.

The London-born star — who joined the franchise in 2015 with Star Wars: The Force Awakens — told British GQ magazine: "You get yourself involved in projects and you're not necessarily going to like everything.

"[But] 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."

In the interview, John also said he was the only Star Wars cast member who had a "unique experience of that franchise based on their race".

He insists all the "nuance" was given to white cast members such as Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver, as he admits he felt "angry" with the process.

He said: "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*** 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. 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.

"I'm the only cast member who had their own unique experience of that franchise based on their race. Let's just leave it like that. It makes you angry with a process like that. It makes you much more militant; it changes you. Because you realise, 'I got given this opportunity but I'm in an industry that wasn't even ready for me.' 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.' Nobody else had that experience. But yet people are surprised that I'm this way. That's my frustration."

Read the full feature in the October issue of British GQ, available via digital download and on newsstands from Sept 4.

— BANG

Photo: TPG News/Click Photos