John Boyega says that major franchises are 'luxury jail' for actors

John Boyega has said that major franchise movies are little more than 'luxury jail' for actors.

Boyega was plucked from relative obscurity in 2014, when J.J. Abrams cast him in the role of Finn, the defecting stormtrooper in Star Wars reboot movie The Force Awakens.

Having gone on to appear in the sequels The Last Jedi and then The Rise of Skywalker, the London-born star now knows a thing or two about major franchises.

He also appeared in the big-budget Pacific Rim: Uprising in 2018, the second movie in a potential franchise which then faltered.

But recently, he's gained significant critical exposure by starring in one of Steve McQueen's Small Axe anthology movies, the 80s-set police racism drama Red, White and Blue.

Speaking during a Q&A session with CinemaBlend, he said: “Being in a big franchise, it’s kind of like luxury jail sometimes for an actor when you want to do something else.

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“Because remember, in a franchise you’re working on one character for many years, which can starve your other muscles.

“And in wanting to be in something where I knew that I’d play a different type of role, a different type of man, and then knowing Steve [McQueen] through, we’re all a part of the same industry so I’d heard about Steve’s directing style. I was really really curious and excited to have the opportunity anyway to be a part of it. And when it came through I was on the [telephone] like, ‘This is my moment.'”

Boyega has been fiercely critical of how his character was marketed for the first Star Wars movie, and then sidelined in the later films.

He told GQ last year: “Like, you guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver. 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.

“What I would say to Disney is do not bring out a black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are and then have them pushed to the side. It’s not good. I’ll say it straight up.”

He later revealed that he'd had an 'honest' conversation with the studio following his comments.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter he said: “There was a lot of explaining on their end in terms of the way they saw things.

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“They gave me a chance also to explain what my experience was like. I'd hope that me being so open with my career, at this stage, would help the next man, the guy that wants to be the assistant DOP, the guy that wants to be a producer.

“I hope that the conversation is not such a taboo or elephant in the room now, because someone just came and said it.”

Boyega has just signed on to new Netflix movie The Formula, where he'll star alongside Robert DeNiro.

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