John Boyega used to get stopped ”every single time” he went to America by airport security.
The 25-year-old actor was singled out during ”random checks” whenever he flew Stateside for auditions, and he eventually resorted to complaining to the airline and had the searches halted.
He told ES magazine: ”I used to fly back and forth when I was hustling and auditioning for things in LA.
”I’d get cheap flights and stay there for two weeks or whatever. And every time I was getting these random checks. Every. Single. Time.
”I wish I remembered the airline because I called them out on it, too. Like, ‘This stuff ain’t right’. They said it was a problem Stateside, they gave me a letter and it stopped.
”But before that it was consistent. I understand that [these things] are for our safety but when you fly a lot and it happens three or four times there’s an element of, ‘OK, I’m still not a terrorist’.”
The ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ actor grew up in London but enjoys visiting Nigeria, his parents’ birthplace.
He said: ”I love being in a country where I’m not the minority.
”It does something to me. I wish I could take my boys from America out there, especially at this time, to have that feeling.”
John recently criticised Samuel L. Jackson after the ‘Snakes on a Plane’ actor said black men from the UK should not play roles about the racial struggles African Americans have faced and though he regrets disagreeing with his ”big unc” in public, he didn’t think the star’s comments were very helpful.
He said: ”I just think there’s no end result in black Brits and African-Americans going back and forth at each other … I rate Sam and he’s always showed me love — he’s like a big unc — but across the planet, the black experience is a layered one and his comments didn’t represent that.”
