John Boyega condemns Game of Thrones for ‘lack of diversity’

Nigerian British actor, John Boyega, has criticized the ‘lack of diversity’ in Game of Thrones. In a recent interview with GQ, the actor stated: “There are no black people on Game of Thrones. You don’t see one black person in Lord of the Rings either. I ain’t paying money to always see one type of […]

Nigerian British actor, John Boyega, has criticized the ‘lack of diversity’ in Game of Thrones. In a recent interview with GQ, the actor stated: “There are no black people on Game of Thrones. You don’t see one black person in Lord of the Rings either. I ain’t paying money to always see one type of person on-screen.Because you see different people from different backgrounds, different cultures, every day. Even if you’re a racist, you have to live with that. We can ruffle up some feathers.”

This is not the first time an actor is calling out on the producers of the hit TV series concerning this issue. David Oyelowo, also a British-Nigerian actor, some few months back also called out ‘Game Of Thrones’ for the same reason, saying “there is no reason why the continents of Westeros and Essos shouldn’t be home to characters with different skin colours”. 

The author and producer of the fantasy series, George R. R. Martin responded to this accusation, stating that “Westeros around 300 AC was nowhere near as diverse as 21st century America”. He also stated that his books have some characters of colour who will have larger roles in the next book in the series, ‘Winds of Winter.”

Although Boyega’s concerns are normal and true, the fantasy series has featured quite a number of black actors  like Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei), DeObia Oparei (AreoHotah), Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm), Lucian Msamati (SalladhorSaan) and Nonso Anozie (XaroXhoanDaxos).