Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens star John Boyega says he’s relieved to just be a fan of the galaxy far, far away again.
During an interview with Total Film, Boyega didn’t want to revisit his past complaints about the sequel trilogy but did make clear he’s still a big fan.
“I still am in love with it,” he explained. “I bloody love it. But it’s almost nicer not having to be in it, and not having to deal with that. It’s weird, you just go back to being a fan again and see yourself in the games.”
Being part of the franchise seemingly wasn’t a great experience for Boyega, as back in 2020 he said that he felt his character had been “pushed to the side”.
He continued: “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*** 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.”
The trouble he emphasized at the time was that his character was nowhere near as intricate or nuanced as the white leads in the sequels. “They gave all the nuance to Adam Driver, all the nuance to Daisy Ridley,” he added. “Let’s be honest. Daisy knows this. Adam knows this. Everybody knows. I’m not exposing anything.”
But getting to be a fan is much more enjoyable, and Boyega’s love for the franchise was clear even back when Boyega was cast as Finn.
“I was the person on set correcting stuff,” he told Total Film. “Like the flying jet troopers that we had in The Rise of Skywalker. Poe had been saying, ‘They fly now’ and I thought they had seen the flying jet troopers from The Clone Wars. I play the games [like] Battlefront. I have a robust relationship with the whole Star Wars stuff.”
It turns out this relationship began during the Star Wars prequel era with a familiar villain. “My first interaction with Star Wars was a Darth Maul figure,” he explained. “I’m a ’90s baby so I came during the prequels. I was like, ‘Bloody hell, man.’ I didn’t know what it was, but I knew it looked cool and there were spaceships and glow sticks that could slash your wrist off.
“Then I went back to the old Star Wars after. OK, I’m guilty — I did say that the effects are shit when I was younger! I didn’t know any better. Then I grew into maturity and was in love with it.”
Boyega also added that he “loves” all the recent Disney+ shows, so he may well be watching the latest episode of The Mandalorian as we speak.
Now that Boyega has stepped away from the galaxy far, far away, it sounds as though he’s having a much better time with it. Still, you have to look at Rise of Skywalker and wonder what was going on when it comes to Rose and Finn, right?
Want to read more about Star Wars? Check out the 10 best Star Wars video games of all time as well as how The Mandalorian redeemed a familiar Star Wars actor.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
