Lucasfilm prepped Star Wars actress against 'racist' blowback for Obi-Wan role

Moses Ingram is slated to play a Sith inquisitor character named Reva, who is on the hunt for Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, who went into hiding after the events of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

When it comes to racist remarks on social media backlash, Lucasfilm is used to it by now to the point that they inform actresses like Ingram about what to potentially expect ahead of time. This was alongside her other training in professional stunts for the latest Disney+ series.

In her interview with the Independent, the "Obi-Wan" actress tackles diversity issues in the franchise. "To me, it’s long overdue. If you’ve got talking droids and aliens, but no people of colour, it doesn’t make any sense. It’s 2022, you know. So we’re just at the beginning of that change. But I think to start that change is better than never having started it."

Director Deborah Chow is credited by Ms. Ingram as someone who was aware of what the actress was walking into. "It was something that Lucasfilm actually got in front of, and said, ‘This is a thing that, unfortunately, likely will happen. But we are here to help you; you can let us know when it happens.’"

Moses Ingram also touched on what it was like being intentionally vague with the press when it came to spoilers for her character. "I didn’t know what I could say, so I said virtually nothing. But the more you do, it gets easier to learn how to talk around things. It becomes a game – you thought you got me but you didn’t," she told the outlet.

As Bounding into Comics reminds readers, Star Wars official Twitter page said they stood by Krystina Arielle after (what they framed as being) racist detractors.

Here’s what Krystina Arielle, host of the "Star Wars: The High Republic" show, said about white people that caused controversy:

• (7:03 PM · Mar 23, 2020) "White people: fucking stop it. Your racism won’t save you. Your ignorance is not an excuse."
• (2:25 AM · May 26, 2020) "White conservatives please stop invoking racism like you give a shit . You don’t. You just want to be able to say "what about" when someone calls out 45 and his blatant racism."
• (3:17 PM · Jun 22, 2020) "Just a reminder that White Women are just as complicit in the upholding and enforcing White Supremacy."

John Boyega of the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy has said that their experience with the franchise has included a racial component to it. In order to comply with Chinese authorities, Disney shrunk Boyega’s character on the "The Force Awakens" poster in December 2015.

As for Kelly Marie Tran, she quit social media in what Business Insider described as "racist and sexist trolls" driving the actress to therapy, after the premiere of Star Wars Episode VIII.

Obi-Wan Kenobi debuts on Disney+ on Friday, May 27th.