John Boyega, who played Finn in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, said that he has no desire to revisit the role.
"At this point, I’m cool off it. I’m good off it," Boyega said in an interview with SiriusXM’s Tell Me Everything With John Fugelsang when asked if he would play the character again. He added that he's moved on to other projects and wants to continue to play a variety of roles. "I think, to be fair, the allies that I’ve found within Joel Taylor and Jamie Foxx, Teyonah Parris, Viola Davis, all these people I’ve been working with -- versatility is my path."
Boyega is happy to see his character carry on without him into other media, but thinks he's spent all the time he needs to playing the former Stormtrooper. "I think Finn is at a good confirmation point where you can just enjoy him in other things, the games, the animation. But I feel like '[Episode] VII' to '[Episode] IX' was good for me." Boyega portrayed Finn in 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens, 2017's The Last Jedi and 2019's The Rise of Skywalker.
Boyega Bids Farewell to Finn and Star Wars
In the same interview, Boyega discussed the experience of actors of color in the Star Wars movies and TV shows, in particular the racist backlash he experienced from fans and the lack of support he saw from the studio, Lucasfilm. He also expressed, however, that he felt that Disney was more prepared for racism from fans by the time Moses Ingram faced backlash for her role in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Boyega also stated that significant progress had been made since he was cast as Finn. "When I started, it wasn’t really a conversation you could bring up," he said.
Boyega has been vocal in the past about what he perceived to be failures on the part of Disney and Lucasfilm in both writing characters of color and in protecting actors of color from racist fans, including his Star Wars sequel trilogy co-star Kelly Marie Tran. In November 2020, Boyega revealed that he had had "a very honest, a very transparent conversation" with Disney about the studio's mishandling of actors and characters of color. "There was a lot of explaining on their end in terms of the way they saw things," Boyega said at the time. "They gave me a chance also to explain what my experience was like."
Boyega's comments on wanting to be a "versatile" actor instead of a franchise star echo another recent interview, in which he shot down rumors he would be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. "I want to do nuanced things. I want to donate my services to original indie films that come with new, fresh ideas," he said. He has also previously compared starring in a big movie franchise to a "luxury jail" for actors, saying that "in a franchise, you're working on one character for many years, which can starve your other muscles."
Star Wars' "Skywalker Saga" is available to stream in its entirety on Disney+.
Source: YouTube