John Boyega went from thinking he wouldn't have a career after fighting racism to a Golden Globe Winner
I've talked on what happened with John Boyega and Disney Lucasfilm a lot. Maybe because even for myself, I'm not over it either, but because I want to make sure everyone knows this story. They know what happened. It's why I've basically dedicated most of my Tumblr, YouTube Channel, and Twitter to talking about this.
This may be the last time though just because unless more comes out publicly, I think there's not much else I can say on this and I'd like to start covering what happening with Ray Fisher at Warner Bros
But one last time, let me explain what happened with John Boyega and how a this Golden Globe win something so earned and proof that being a good man who fights for what's right and a great actor who never stops, is what has given John the career he deserves.
Back in 2014, it was announced that John Boyega would be the male lead of the Sequel Trilogy
John Boyega had been announced as the male lead of the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy after the IP had been purchased by Disney. The casting process was a hard one for John Boyega since Disney Lucasfilm wanted to cast a white actor, but JJ Abrams had fought against Disney Lucasfilm and after 8 different auditions, John was finally cast as Finn. A big part of what got John the role, beyond his powerhouse acting chops and JJ Abrams fighting for him, was that his chemistry test with Daisy Ridley, the actress that been chosen to pay Rey, had been the only one that Daisy herself had liked. Daisy, being cast after her first audition. Meanwhile Adam Driver, who would go on to play the sequel trilogy's antagonist had been hand picked by Kathleen Kennedy.
Some time later, the marketing for the first film in the Sequel Trilogy, The Force Awakens (2015) had started and well the internet reacted as well as you'd think it would back in the mid 2010's
Despite the racial backlash and a call to boycott, The Force Awakens broke all box office records and to this day, still holds the record for highest grossing film in North America of all time.
Sadly though, Disney Lucasfilm chose to go a different direction...a direction that sidelined him.
The TLDR being he was Black and they didn't want a Black male lead.
For more detailed breakdowns, here are two different videos I made on the subject.
This one is 40 mins and its a detailed breakdown of John Boyega's experiences throughout the sequels.
But if you want a shorter breakdown that just covers why he was sidelined and how it damaged his character, here's a shorter 23 min video
From John Boyega's own words, Disney Lucasfilm based his experience in Star Wars off of his race and at the time of the second film in the ST, The Last Jedi (2017) it was a re-ordered character hierarchy that saw John now pushed into a supporting character role.
The trilogy ended, with a wet flop, as we all know. Months of re-shoots re-writes from Disney Lucasfilm had turned the final film, The Rise of Skywalker (2019) into a studio mess that saw John Boyega once again on the short end of the stick.
In the next following months, John Boyega would speak out against many of the creative choices made in the sequels, something that got him LOTS of backlash by angry Star Wars fans that were calling for his career to be over and him to be canceled. John responded with a video pushing back against them.
Then later in 2020, John Boyega went out to take a stand against Police brutality and systematic racism during the Black Lives Matter Protests
John would later in the year of 2020 go on to speak with GQ and speak out against Disney Lucasfilm's racist treatment of not just him, but of how badly they treated fellow co-stars Kelly Marie Tran, Naomi Ackie, and Oscar Isaac. Further proving that it was the lives of others, other POC of color like himself, that John was fighting for.
It was during all this that John Boyega had lamented that his career could likely be over after all this. He had taken a stand against racism on two fronts, Disney, who own a good deal of the entertainment industry, and police brutality. For a Black man in the film industry, this fear is honestly a real one.
But fate has a funny way of rewarding the noble and kind hearted folks of the world. Not always, we all know that's not always the case, but for once, it was. John Boyega didn't lose his career. In fact, many saw his fighting spirit and saw his bravery, saw that he wasn't going to lay down and let anyone suffer if he could fight.
The year is 2021 now and John Boyega has won the Golden Globe for his role in Small Axe, a story that ironically touches on racism and police corruption.
Its been an interesting journey for John Boyega. From a kid being able to live his dreams and be cast in Star Wars to a man fighting against racial injustice both in the world and in the entertainment industry, John's story is one for history books of our generation.
Whatever future John Boyega has in this world, I truly wish him the best and I'm thankful that someone like him exists to be a role model for so many people, regardless of where they come from or what they look like.
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