Lucasfilm warned Obi-Wan Kenobi star Moses Ingram about racist hate from fans
By Michael East
Over the past few years, a particular subsection of the Star Wars fandom has given the many great fans a bad name. The level of toxicity and racism against Star Wars prequel actors John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran was so bad that Lucasfilm has now been forced to preempt a similar campaign against Moses Ingram, who plays an Inquisitor in the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+.
Speaking with The Independent, Ingram revealed that Lucasfilm has been proactive in preparing POC cast members for potential abuse. “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,'” Ingram said. “[Director Deborah Chow has been] putting the proper systems in place, so I feel safe as we do the work. Of course, there are always pockets of hate, But I have no problem with the block button.”
Set 10 years after the events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Ingram will star alongside Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen, who respire their roles of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader respectively. The show will, in effect, serve as a bridge between the prequel movies and the original trilogy, as the first Star Wars movie features Kenobi still on Tatooine watching over Luke.
However, in this series we’ll see a very different Tatooine than the one we visited in 1977. “Obi-Wan is going to bring the most diversity I think we’ve ever seen in the galaxy before,” Ingram said. “To me, it’s long overdue. If you’ve got talking droids and aliens but no people of color, 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.”
Moses Ingram careful to avoid spoilers for Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi
Much of the show’s backstory and future are already written. With the Jedi being murdered following Order 66 and Anakin Skywalker having turned to the dark side, Obi-Wan Kenobi will see the titular aging Jedi hiding on Tatooine as he observes the young Luke Skywalker and tries to avoid the Empire’s attempts to hunt him down. However, while we may know the beginning and even the end, Ingram is forbidden from revealing anything in between.
“You know, my interview [after my casting announcement] was so bad,” Ingram said. “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.”
The first two episodes of Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi premiered today on Disney+! The series will run for six episodes until June 22.
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