John Boyega was pretty much an unknown when he signed on to play Finn in the new Star Wars trilogy, as was Daisy Ridley who plays Rey. To go from marginally famous to being recognized by almost anyone across the World is a pretty full-on experience for anyone.
Boyega recently spoke with Variety about his experience since joining Star Wars, and he talked about how his own perspective has changed in the time since.
“Before [I made them] – and it’s weird and corny to say – but I was normal. You’re looking at people that operate in this space, and you think you know everything that’s going on in their lives. Or even as a fan, in terms of the projects, you think you understand, just based on whatever the media feeds you. Just living in that life, I’ve kind of lived two extremes now from just being normal and then going to Star Wars. I understand perspective now. And you understand that the world doesn’t give enough perspective. Star Wars is a unique experience for the individuals that star in it, especially if you play a character that’s at the forefront of this experience. And I think that automatically, you represent something in someone’s psyche, in someone’s life, their childhood, you represent that. So there’s an existence that people understand of you – you probably didn’t see yourself like that, because you’re yourself, you’ve been living your whole life. So that whole transition is interesting to me. And then I think about this the first Star Wars franchise in the era of social media. You’ve never had another trilogy at the height of social media like this and so me that’s also interesting. It’s making a different experience.”
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I suppose when you are an actor, you are hoping to get great parts, and essentially become famous because that means you are earning a decent income from the job you love. However, the insane level of fame and the scrutiny which goes along with Star Wars must be hard to get your head around.
Daisy Ridley was asked a similar question when speaking with the Radio Times back in December 2017, here is what she said.
“Life suddenly got a bit different. I’m definitely recognized more, but I find the whole taking pictures thing weird. I’d prefer to have a conversation than someone asking for a picture, but I guess people feel the need to prove they’ve had the interaction through social media. I don’t do social anymore.”
I think when you look back at the original trilogy, sure, it made Harrison Ford the biggest star in Hollywood, but in some ways, it actually hampered the career of Mark Hamill early on and Carrie Fisher herself had a hard time coming to terms with how associated she was with a fictional character.
What do you think of Boyega’s comments, would you trade the freedom of anonymity you have to be in a Star Wars movie? Let us know in the usual place below.
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SOURCE: Variety
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