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Star Wars’ John Boyega Reveals Advice Carrie Fisher Gave Him After Racist Backlash Over His Casting

Star Wars’ John Boyega Reveals Advice Carrie Fisher Gave Him After Racist Backlash Over His Casting

John Boyega has opened up about the advice Carrie Fisher gave him after the racist backlash he faced against his ‘Star Wars’ casting.

A handful of fans weren’t pleased when John’s stormtrooper role was revealed in the very first ‘The Force Awakens’ trailer, but Carrie was on hand to offer the perfect piece of advice.

John and Carrie at the 2015 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' premiere
Todd Williamson via Getty Images
John and Carrie at the 2015 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' premiere

Speaking in a new Vanity Fair interview, which is accompanied by a series of stunning cast portraits, John explained that Carrie quickly offered a suitable rebuttal for his critics.

He said: “I remember—and forgive me, I’m going to drop the f-bomb, but that’s just Carrie—she said, ‘Ah, boohoo, who fuckin’ cares? You just do you.

“Words like that give you strength. I bore witness in a million ways to her sharing her wisdom with Daisy too.”

A number of photographs of Carrie also feature in the special edition of the magazine, which celebrates the upcoming film, ‘The Last Jedi’, and the fact the franchise is now 40 years old.

John as Finn
Lucasfilm/Bad Robot/Walt Disney Studios/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock
John as Finn

Carrie will feature in episode IIX, as it was filmed in the months prior to her death.

In a heartbreaking twist, LucasFilm president Kathleen Kennedy has revealed - in the same Vanity Fair issue - that the third installment of the latest trilogy was supposed to be “Leia’s film”.

After Carrie made the briefest of cameos in CGI form at the end of ‘Star Wars’ spin-off ‘Rogue One’, it was suggested shortly after her death that the same could be done for the impending ninth film in the sci-fi saga.

However, LucasFilm was quick to pour water on this suggestion, insisting: “We want to assure our fans that Lucasfilm has no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher’s performance as Princess or General Leia Organa.”

Read the full ‘Star Wars’ feature in the latest issue of Vanity Fair.

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