John Boyega confirmed to Star Wars fans at MegaCon Orlando (via ScreenRant) that he has spoken to Lucasfilm’s new president, Dave Filoni, who is now Lucasfilm’s chief creative officer and president following Kathleen Kennedy’s departure. Details of what Boyega and Filoni talked about were not disclosed. When asked about returning to Star Wars as Finn, Boyega responded, “It’s true,” as a fan yelled, “Call Dave.”
Boyega made his debut as Finn in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and reprized the role in 2017’s The Last Jedi and 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. His role in the trilogy led to online harassment from racist and toxic “Star Wars” fans who were upset that a black actor would play one of the lead roles in the long-running space series. Boyega has accused both fans and Disney of racist behavior over the years. He criticized the studio for fumbling with diversity in the trilogy, pointing out things like the reduction of storylines for characters of color.
Boyega first aired his dissatisfaction with Star Wars to GQ magazine in 2020, saying at the time: “What I’m saying to Disney is that they don’t include black characters, they promote them as much more important in the series than they actually are, and then they sideline them. That’s not okay. I want to make it clear.”
“You knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver,” Boyega continued. “But when it comes to Kelly Marie Tran, when it comes to John Boyega, you know everything. So what do you want me to say? What they want you to say is, “It was a great experience.” No, no. They gave Adam Driver all the nuance, and they gave Daisy Ridley all the nuance. Everyone knows this. I’m not giving away anything.
Boyega later revealed to THR that a Disney executive contacted him after his interview with GQ. He said he had had “very honest and transparent conversations” with executives, adding: “There was a lot of clarification on their part as to how they saw things. They also gave me an opportunity to explain what my experience was. At this stage I I hope that being open about my career helps the next person, the person who wants to be a DOP assistant, the person who wants to be a producer. I hope the conversation doesn’t become taboo or the elephant in the room because now someone has come and said that. ”
Years later, in 2022, Boyega appeared to distance himself from Finn, telling SiriusXM when asked about returning to the Star Wars franchise, saying, “I’m cool at this point, let’s just call it quits.” He added, “Versatility is my path, and Finn is at a good point where he can have fun with other things, like gaming and animation. I feel like (episodes) 7-9 were good for me.”
Last year, Boyega appeared in the Apple TV+ original documentary “Number One on the Call Sheet: Hollywood’s Leading Black People,” in which he slammed racist “Star Wars” fans who, up until a point, only accepted black actors.
“I’ll tell you, Star Wars has always had this feel of being in the whitest, most elite space. This franchise is so white that it’s special to have a black person in it,” Boyega said in the documentary. “You always know it’s something when some Star Wars fan tries to say, ‘Yeah, we had Lando Calrissian and Samuel L. Jackson!'” It’s like telling someone how many cookie chips are in cookie dough. It’s like you just threw it out there, bro! ”
“They’re fine with us playing best friends, but once we get to know their heroes and we lead and trailblaze, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, this is a little too much! They’re pandering,'” he added, also acknowledging that appearing on the series was a “fundamental moment” in his career.
