John Boyega Says His ‘Star Wars’ Co-Stars Supported Him After His Black Lives Matter Speech

John Boyega Says His ‘Star Wars’ Co-Stars Supported Him After His Black Lives Matter Speech

While John Boyega said he was concerned his previous Black Lives Matter speech would hurt his career, he still received support from his Star Wars co-stars.

John Boyega’s emotional speech went viral earlier this year in the wake of protests after the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor. 

He said back in June:

“Black lives have always mattered. We have always been important. We have always meant something. We have always succeeded regardless. And now is the time. I ain’t waiting…I’m speaking to you from my heart. I don’t know if I’m going to have a career after this but f*** that.”

John Boyega In Tears While Protesting: Black Men, We Need To Take Care Of Our Black Women pic.twitter.com/gRmppUQewI

— theJasmineBRAND (@thejasminebrand) June 3, 2020

He recently said he had a fear his career would be negatively impacted:

“I understand, looking from the outside in, it might seem ‘oh, you’ve been in this and you’ve been in that.’ But how many actors do you know who have been in big franchises? It doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to have stability for the rest of your life.”

Still, it doesn’t look like that will be the case as he said his Star Wars co-stars Oscar Isaac and Daisy Ridley backed him up during that time.

He told Entertainment Tonight: 

“I am really close to my castmates, specifically Oscar and Daisy. I have had really transparent and lovely conversations that I will never forget in my career, so we were already speaking about things. Me saying this was not a shock to them, but they did text me to say they support me…Many people in the industry have reached out to have these transparent conversations. That has really, really helped.”

But the support doesn’t mean he’ll be returning to Star Wars after he announced he left the franchise this summer.

“I don’t know what’s going on with Star Wars. I think while I’m alive, that’s one thing, but it would just depend on the story and it would depend whether Daisy and Oscar are coming back. I wouldn’t wanna be running around by myself or anything.”

He also said of his speech:

It was just me expressing how I feel about certain issues. I just feel like it probably hit a time where people can relate, and a lot of people in that position would’ve probably said the same thing. It’s always good to have someone that has a stage and a position to be able to speak from a very true perspective and it was an honor to be able to do that for you all.”

He continued:

“[With] the illusion of fame and money and stability, people feel like, ‘Why would he care about us? You’re good. You’re made. Why would you care?’ It’s good, through action, to break down those obstacles, so we can always identify our true allies, people who truly have our backs.”

John Boyega added that he hopes conversations will continue.

What do you think of John Boyega’s Star Wars castmates supporting him after his speech?