When the first Obi-Wan Kenobi trailer hit earlier in the year, Moses Ingram was easily one of the highlights as Reva, an Inquisitor working to hunt down surviving Jedis at the behest of Darth Vader. Ingram’s casting continued Star Wars‘ commitment to embracing diversity, and the actor says the upcoming Disney+ series builds on that commitment more than any other project.
“Obi-Wan is going to bring the most diversity I think we’ve ever seen in the galaxy before,” Ingram told The Independent. “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.”
Unfortunately, as previous franchise stars John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran can attest, the Star Wars fandom has a racist problem tucked into its ugliest corners. However, Ingram says that this time around Lucasfilm and Obi-Wan director Deborah Chow went into her casting with eyes wide open, and they prepared for the worst:
“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.’”
The actor credits director Deborah Chow, as well as others throughout Lucasfilm, for “putting the proper systems in place so I feel safe as we do the work”.
Ingram’s eyes were equally wide open going into the franchise, and she revealed her own strategy for dealing with the Star Wars fandom’s unfortunate underbelly, and it’s a pretty good one. “I have no problem with the block button,” Ingram said.
Obi-Wan Kenobi starts streaming May 27 on Disney+.
(Via The Independent)