Star Wars: John Boyega accuses Disney of sidelining non-white characters

The British actor John Boyega played runaway Stormtrooper Finn

Actor John Boyega has accused Disney of sidelining non-white characters in the last Star Wars film and says his experience of the franchise was different as a black actor.

The 28-year-old played Finn, the first black Stormtrooper, in the latest trilogy, which started with The Force Awakens in 2015.

Appearing alongside Daisy Ridley's Rey and Adam Driver's villainous Kylo Ren, Boyega's time on screen was reduced in sequel The Last Jedi in 2017 and finale The Rise Of Skywalker in 2019.

In an interview with British GQ, Boyega claimed the film-makers didn't know what to do with his and other diverse characters in The Rise of Skywalker.

What else did he say?

Daisy Ridley and John Boyega at the Rise of Skywalker premiere last year

Boyega said that the film-makers gave more depth to the characters played by his white Star Wars co-stars and that they did not know how to treat a black character.

"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," he said. "It's not good. I'll say it straight up."

He went on to say that, "They gave all the nuance to Adam Driver, all the nuance to Daisy Ridley."

He told GQ that the film-makers didn't know what do to with Finn or Kelly Marie Tran's character Rose. He also suggested Naomi Ackie, the black British actress who played Jannah, and Guatemalan-born Oscar Isaac, who played Poe, were similarly dismissed.

Boyega said that Disney didn't know what do to with his or Kelly Marie Tran's characters

Talking about this experience, Boyega told GQ: "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].

Boyega said the film gave "all the nuance" to Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver

What has the reaction been?

Boyega says he was 'pushed to the side' by Disney

Boyega has received widespread support from fans and commentators on social media, although some people had less sympathy.

Disney has not responded and there's been no response from any of the main figures in the Star Wars universe nor the director JJ Abrams.