Lucasfilm – 2017
(LOS ANGELES) — Star Wars actor John Boyega is calling out fantasy shows like Game of Thrones for what he describes as their lack of diversity.
“There are no black people on Game of Thrones,” he said in a new cover story for GQ magazine.
To be fair, HBO’s hit fantasy drama has featured at least two black actors: Jacob Anderson and Nonso Anozie. The series has also cast other actors of color, including Nathalie Emmanuel and Jessica Henwick.
And although Boyega’s hit film fantasy franchise, Star Wars, has featured African-American actors such as Billy Dee Williams and Samuel L. Jackson, he said it’s important for such franchises to think about representation on the big and small screens, especially in completely made-up universes.
“I ain’t paying money to always see one type of person on-screen,” the 25-year-old British actor, who was born to Nigerian parents, said. “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.”
Author George R.R. Martin, whose fantasy novels where adapted into the Game of Thrones series, has previously addressed the issue in connection to his written stories.
“Westeros around 300 AC is nowhere near as diverse as 21st century America, of course,” he wrote about the fictional Game of Thrones world on his blog in 2014 , “but with that being said, I do have some ‘characters of color’ who will have somewhat larger roles in [his forthcoming novel] WINDS OF WINTER. Admittedly, these are secondary and tertiary characters, though not without importance.”
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