It’s a source of huge frustration for Star Wars fans that Finn, after being introduced as such a strong character in The Force Awakens, drew the short straw in the sequels, with his arc across The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker being pretty weak. John Boyega has hinted that he felt the same way himself before, but now he’s opened up about his frustrations with how his character was treated across the trilogy.
While speaking to GQ, the British actor took a stand against Disney for marginalizing not just Finn but all of the diverse characters in the Sequel Trilogy, speaking on behalf of his co-stars Oscar Isaac (Poe), Naomi Ackie (Jannah) and Kelly Marie Tran (Rose).
“You get yourself involved in projects and you’re not necessarily going to like everything,” he began. “[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.”
He went on to say that the Caucasian characters are the ones who had the richer arcs and the bulk of the screentime, something that has left Boyega unwilling to keep toeing the company line.
“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 fuck all,” he continued. “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 also specifically mentioned that Daisy Ridley’s Rey and Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren got all the “nuance,” saying:
“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.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Boyega makes clear that he considers joining Star Wars “an amazing opportunity” and “a stepping stone” to many other jobs, while also defending J.J. Abrams, who fans typically blame for the way The Rise of Skywalker turned out. “Everybody needs to leave my boy alone,” the actor said. “He wasn’t even supposed to come back and try to save your shit.”
Clearly, there’s no love lost between Boyega and the studio, though there is still the potential for him to return as Finn for future Star Wars projects. Maybe Disney could win him back if they give him some stronger material to work with? Either way, it’s likely the actor isn’t done dishing the dirt on the Sequel Trilogy.