While everyone else has caught Game Of Thrones fever, John Boyega is pointing out a pretty disappointing truth. In an interview with GQ, the Star Wars: The Force Awakens actor called out the HBO hit for not making an effort to be diverse, since the characters of color on the show are few and far between.
"There are no black people on Game of Thrones," he told the outlet. "You don't see one black person in Lord of the Rings. I ain't paying money to always see one type of person on-screen."
There's no reason for this oversight, especially not in 2017.
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"You see different people from different backgrounds, different cultures, every day," he continued. "Even if you're a racist, you have to live with that. We can ruffle up some feathers."
Unfortunately, his words appear to be falling on deaf ears. As far as the show's casting director Nina Gold is concerned, Game Of Thrones doesn't have a diversity problem. She told Vanity Fair in an interview:
“Even though these are fantasy worlds, there are tribes, families, and dynasties. Once you’ve put one mark on the catalyst for the Targaryens or the Starks, you really owe it to the, oh I can’t think of the word, but the authenticity of trying to make them a family somehow. In the books, the Targaryens are these white, white people with silver hair and violet eyes. The Starks are kind of rough, like Northern English people. The Lannisters are golden, aren’t they? We really believed we were doing it like the books, basically...I guess I don’t know what to really say about it, because it’s not like there’s no diversity in the casting in Game of Thrones. We’ve turned Grey Worm and Missandei into really deep characters...I really do believe in diversity in casting, and always have done. I don’t feel I have to defend it, really.”
And if you think there's any hope for the books, think again.
"Westeros around 300 AC is nowhere near as diverse as 21st century America, of course..." George RR Martin said in a blog post. "But with that being said, I do have some 'characters of color' who will have somewhat larger roles in WINDS OF WINTER. Admittedly, these are secondary and tertiary characters, though not without importance."
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It should go without saying that this is not good enough, and we should all keep calling it out.