John Boyega opened up about the shortcomings of the 'Star Wars' franchise in a new interview with GQ.
The actor spoke of being "the only cast member who had their own unique experience of that franchise based on their race."
He said: "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."
It was the actor's first extensive interview since completing the last 'Star Wars' movie, 'Rise of Skywalker'.
Boyega spoke of how his character in the series, Finn, ended up being sidelined.
It was a complaint many fans had about the film, which also sidelines Oscar Isaac's character Poe, Kelly Marie Tran's Rose Tico, and Naomi Ackie's Jannah.
Boyega notes: "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 also spoke about how the film focussed on Rey and Kylo Ren instead.
"Like, you guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver," he said.
"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**k 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."
Read the interview with GQ in full here.
