Star Wars actor John Boyega has opened up about the representation of black British culture on a global scale. Speaking to Radio Times, Boyega revealed that following his debut film Attack the Block he met Americans who were “confused that there were black people in London.”
Boyega starred in Attack the Block in 2011, a film about a group of teenagers battling aliens in their corner of London.
He said, “I’m black British and I’m from London. And that in itself is something that the world doesn’t know about yet.”
Over the course of his Attack the Block press tour, he said, “I met American people - civilians of a first-world country - who were confused that there were black people in London. That’s why entertainment is so special, it’s a great chance to bring people together and open them up to things they haven’t seen before.”
Although attached to one of the biggest film franchises in the world, Boyega has his heart set on doing more projects specifically about black Britain.
The actor is set to star in BBC anthology series Small Axe alongside Black Panther star Letitia Wright, which will be directed by Steve McQueen and is centred on London’s West Indian community.
Boyega is known for speaking up on issues of diversity and in the past has slammed the lack of representation in high fantasy series including Game of Thrones, saying in 2017 to GQ, “There are no black people on Game of Thrones. You don’t see one black person in Lord of the Rings.”
“I ain’t paying money to always see one type of person on screen. Because you see different people from different backgrounds, different cultures, every day. Even if you’re a racist, you have to live with that,” he finished. “We can ruffle up some feathers.”
Boyega stars in Star Wars Episode 9: The Rise of the Skywalker as Finn, in cinemas December 20.
