John Boyega takes his position in the spotlight very seriously. The Star Wars actor has never backed down from standing up for what’s right no matter what the consequences may be.

Many people of color are afraid to do so due to the lack of representation in the media already and the fear of being blacklisted. After working in one of the biggest franchises to ever grace the big screen, Boyega commented about his personal experience working on the films.

From the time that he was announced for his role, the UK native received nasty cyber hate spewing racist tweets and comments across social media. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop there.

Whether it was overt racist comments or microaggressions on set or while doing promo — John’s memories of being a part of Star Wars is very different from his white counterparts.

While the nation is claiming to try and amplify Black voices, John gave a heartfelt interview in GQ Magazine.

‘I’m the only cast member who had their own unique experience of that franchise based on their race. Let’s just leave it like that. It makes you angry with a process like that. It makes you much more militant; it changes you. Because you realize, ‘I got given this opportunity but I’m in an industry that wasn’t even ready for me.’ Nobody else in the cast had people saying they were going to boycott the movie because [they were in it]. Nobody else had the uproar and death threats sent to their Instagram DMs and social media, saying, ‘Black this and Black that and you shouldn’t be a Stormtrooper.’ Nobody else had that experience. But yet people are surprised that I’m this way. That’s my frustration.’

Boyega recently spoke with ET where he revealed that his co-stars showed him support.

‘I got a text message from Daisy, I mean we talk all the time. But to be fair I’m really, really close with my castmates, specifically Oscar [Isaac] and Daisy. Myself and Kelly [Marie Tran] had really transparent and loving conversations that I will never forget for the rest of my career.’

He added that they had already spoken about the subject before so it wasn’t much of a shock to them.

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However, it’s great to know that John’s friends are genuine allies in the fight against systemic racism.