Summary
Naomi Ackie, the actor who portrays Jannah inStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, has addressed her experience withStar Warsregarding racism and social media. Ackie entered theStar Warsgalaxy at a tumultuous time for the franchise, when the sequel trilogy was causing deep division within and loud outcry from the fandom. One unfortunate yet prevalent issue during this time was the racist backlash that actors such as John Boyega and Kelly Marie-Tran were facing, leading the latter to delete her Instagram entirely. Now, Ackie has opened up about how this affected her life when joiningStar Wars.
Star Wars Sequel Trilogy Cast & Character Guide
The cast of the Star Wars sequel trilogy includes icons like Harrison Ford reprising their old characters and newcomers including Daisy Ridley.
Speaking toTHR, Ackie reveals that she received advice early on from “insiders” to delete her Instagram prior to herStar Warscasting even being announced. She explains thatshe had heard “that anyone of color would get wrapped up in some racist sh**,“and that “I didn’t want to have a place for them to come with their comments.” Ackie ultimately decided to delete her Instagram, but after she managed to dodge the kind of backlash she references here, she was encouraged by Disney to return to the platform once again.
Still, Ackie had a hard time with social media in the wake ofStar Wars. It earned her an official verification from Instagram, which came with plenty of new followers - something that increased the pressure for her, even if “it was fine and I sat with that for a bit” at the time the movie initially came out. This, along with “doomscrolling” that threatened to heighten Ackie’s insecurity, led her to truly get rid of Instagram once again.
Racism Seems to be a Prevalent Issue in the Star Wars Fandom
Unfortunately, the warning Ackie was given about the racist backlash around her casting is all too real. Thankfully, she avoided it, but others haven’t been as lucky. Moses Ingram was another victim of racist backlash following her debut in 2022’sObi-Wan Kenobiseries, and currently, Amandla Stenberg is still experiencing the fallout of racist backlash fromThe Acolyte- especially now that the series has been canceled. This is an ongoing issue, which makes it more than reasonable that someone like Ackie would want to protect herself from such behavior.
It’s getting to the point whereStar Warsitself is going to have to truly address what’s happening. Too many times have they remained silent about the fraction of the community that continually harasses actors like Boyega, Tran, Ingram, and Stenberg. They attempted to take steps towards it in 2022 by sharing a video of Ewan McGregor addressing racism, but even the words ofObi-Wan Kenobihimself haven’t helped to stave it off. Hopefully one day, there will be a world in whichStar Warsdoesn’t have this reputation of racist backlash attached to it anymore.
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker
Cast
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker concludes the Skywalker saga with Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron leading the Resistance against the First Order. As the final battle unfolds, they draw upon the wisdom and strength of previous generations to confront their adversaries. Released in 2019, the film concludes the sequel trilogy.
