Star Wars actor John Boyega explains why he doesn’t watch Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones
THE Star Wars actor has taken aim at two of the world’s biggest franchises — Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings.
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STAR Wars actor John Boyega has taken aim at two of the world’s biggest franchises specifically over their distinct lack of diversity.
The 25-year-old actor, whose parents are Nigerian, recently called out Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings over their casting and how they only feature “one type of person on-screen”.
The British-born star sat down with GQrecently to explain why he doesn’t watch Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings.
“There are no black people on Game of Thrones,” Boyega told the publication.
Although the series does have at least three featured black characters, none of them have a starring role and instead play characters that serve someone white.
“You don’t see one black person in Lord of the Rings,” he continues.
“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. We can ruffle up some feathers.”
When Boyega was cast as one of the titular characters in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the series was praised for increasing diversity on-screen.
Previous to Boyega’s starring role in the first Star Wars movie in over a decade, the sci-fi series had only a few black characters.
Billy Dee Williams starred as smuggler Lando Calrissian in two Star Wars movies while Samuel L. Jackson played Jedi Mace Windu in three of saga’s instalments.
Originally published as Star Wars actor John Boyega explains why he doesn’t watch Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones
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