Category: J.J. Abrams
John Boyega Says Disney Used His Race To Market “Star Wars” And Then Sidelined His Character
Back in June John Boyega made headlines when he gave an impassioned, impromptu speech at a Black Lives Matter protest in London. In it, he said, “I don’t know if I’m going to have a career after this, but fuck that.” Celebs like Jordan Peele, Olivia Wilde, and his Star Wars director JJ Abrams took to Twitter to assure John that they’d still love to work with him.
Now, John’s continuing that honesty streak in a new interview with GQ. He discusses Black Lives Matter, his personal journey to self-actualization, and being a Black actor in the Star Wars franchise. He says that he, along with other actors of color like Naomi Ackie, Kelly Marie Tran, and even Oscar Isaac (whom John refers to as “a brother from Guatemala”), were trotted out to sell the movies, but sidelined in the actual films.
Kelly Marie Tran’s Role In “Star Wars” Was Cut Down Because Editing Footage Of Carrie Fisher Was Too Difficult
Kelly Marie Tran hasn’t exactly had the easiest transition into the galaxy far, far away. The first time she appeared in a Star Wars film, racist haters chased her off social media. Her most recent appearance in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was limited to a brief 76 seconds. Well, Rise of Skywalker screenwriter Chris Terrio recently spoke about Kelly’s demotion and he says it’s nothing Kelly did. According to Chris, it’s all because of the late Carrie Fisher.
“Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker” Has Given The Franchise’s First Same-Sex Kiss
Just like when Avengers: End Game introduced its first gay character in the form of a momentary part of dialogue where a guy mentions he went on a date with another man (scandalous…), Star Wars is trying to also lightly season its universe with the gays. It’s been revealed that the newest movie, Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker will feature the franchise’s first same-sex kiss, because J.J. Abrams loves the LGBTQ community. Okay, he loves us within reason; stop thinking that Poe and Finn get together. If you think two people in that screen grab above are going to kiss, you’d have better luck being right if one of them is Chewbacca.
J.J. Abrams Has Responded To George Lucas Hating On “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”
If you’re a Star Wars purist, you might be the type of person who separates the films into two categories, BC (Before Corporate Sellout) and AD (After Disney). And clearly there are some people who favor one side to the other. Me personally? I’m only interested if Baby Yoda is involved. George Lucas sold the Star Wars universe to Disney in 2012 for $4 billion, and it didn’t take him very long to start talking shit about the first post-Disney film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens when it was released in 2015. George didn’t like it then, he still doesn’t like it now. J.J. Abrams, director and screenwriter of The Force Awakens, has had just about enough of George’s hateration and holleration in this spacery.
“Lost” Creators Issued An Apology To Evangeline Lilly For Her Bad Experiences On Set
“Lost” creators J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof would like to clear the air regarding Evangeline Lilly. Primarily, they would like to address the bad experiences she reported over being asked to do nudity on the set of Lost. For that, they are sorry. Secondarily, they would like me to know that Evangeline goes by Evie, not Ms. Vangie as previously reported. For that, I am not sorry.
Luke Skywalker Might Be Gay… If You Think He Is
In a galaxy far, far a gay, I mean away, there was a hero. A young man who faced his darkest fears and changed the fate of the worlds. And maybe kissed on men. If that’s what you want to believe. Mark Hamill, the actor that plays Luke Skywalker – I’m clarifying because there is a shocking number of people that have not seen Star Wars – has said that if people want to think that Luke is gay, then they should raise a rainbow flag, because he is. To them.
Mark spoke to The Sun (via NY Post) and said, “fans are writing and asking all these questions: ‘I’m bullied in school . . . I’m afraid to come out.’ They say to me: ‘Could Luke be gay?’ I’d say it is meant to be interpreted by the viewer. If you think Luke is gay, of course he is. You should not be ashamed of it. Judge Luke by his character, not by who he loves.” Honestly, kudos to him. The character arc for Luke doesn’t hinge on him being gay or not, so it’s not brought up and there was no romantic storyline for him either. This is a pretty classy way of addressing something that clearly means a lot to a lot of people as well as going with the flow of the more diversified world of Star Wars.