By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
When the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy came out, some disappointed fans lamented how much these movies somehow ruined their childhoods. These fans seemed determined to paint themselves as victims of Disney’s oppression as if the megacorporation that owned the rights to their favorite spaceships was ever going to be less money-hungry and confused than the billionaire they bought them from. These fans’ increasingly desperate howls often threaten to overshadow the real victims of Disney’s Star Wars sequels, and that’s the leading actors.
Star Wars Actors Get The Shaft
The original Star Wars films elevated the main actors’ careers in a big way, making Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, and most especially Harrison Ford into household names. And as time crept up toward the original release of The Force Awakens, fans had every reason to assume that the latest actors in a galaxy far, far away were on the cusp of a career explosion. That never happened, and that’s largely because Disney mangled what could otherwise be their most profitable IP.
Now, this is probably the part where Star Wars fans who have spent the last decade screeching about Rey will insist that the sequels failed because actors like Daisy Ridley did a bad job. However, Ridley is actually a very solid actor, which is evident in many non-Star Wars projects ranging from Scrawl to Murder On the Orient Express. The problem was never that Ridley was a bad actor. Instead, the problem was that this talented performer was effectively wasted on poorly written films that didn’t have an ounce of creative cohesion going on behind the scenes.
The same can be true of the Star Wars sequels’ other big breakout star, John Boyega. His character is all over the place in terms of writing and motivation, but that’s the fault of writers who couldn’t decide on essential character questions like whether he was going to be a Jedi or not. Like Ridley, Boyega is insanely talented, having killed it in movies like Attack the Block and the anthology film Small Axe, for which he earned an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor–Television.
Out of the core trio from the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Oscar Isaac is the only one to enjoy major success outside this franchise. Isaac is also known for movies like Inside Llewyn Davis, Ex Machina, and A Most Violent Year. These films were all released before The Force Awakens, though Isaac also achieved success on the small screen, with his miniseries Show Me a Hero earning the Golden Globe for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film.
Now, you’re probably asking why the resume of these Star Wars actors matters so much, and here it is: if these performers weren’t typecast as their characters and most likely tied down by secretive contracts, all of them would have careers that were truly flourishing. The older Isaac already had a bit more experience, but appearing in Star Wars has notably overshadowed everything he has done since The Force Awakens. Comparatively, Ridley and Boyega were recruited by Disney before they had much acting experience, and the failure of this famous franchise may now keep them from ever getting the significant roles they deserve.
At the end of the day, we can understand why many hate the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, but it’s just bonkers to blame those film’s failure on the actors rather than the writers, producers, and executives that conspired to turn this franchise into soulless slop. The truth is that these are some of the most talented actors in Hollywood, but they may now forever be held back by the colossal creative failure of Disney. The biggest victims of Star Wars, then, will never be the fans…it will be the talented actors who brought this galaxy to life before having their careers sucked into a Sarlacc pit.
