John Boyega is workin’...and it looks like his portrayal will be tackling a timely and often controversial topic: police brutality.
Back in 2019, Variety broke the news that Boyega would be joining Letitia Wright in an upcoming anthology series from Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave, Widows) entitled Small Axe. At the time, not much was known outside of the fact that it was set to air on BBC and that Amazon had already secured the U.S. rights. We knew it would be told in six different parts and would feature five different stories. However, the plot of the specific stories or episodes weren’t known. Now, Deadline has more details on what Boyega’s episode will entail.
More info on the episode, via Deadline:
Boyega’s episode is titled “Red, White And Blue,” and will feature the Star Wars actor as Leroy Logan, a real-life Metropolitan Police officer who wanted to change the force from within after he saw his father assaulted by two policemen.
Logan was awarded an MBE by the Queen in 2001 for his role in developing anti-racist policies for the police. He retired as a superintendent in 2013 after 30 years of service.
This would be an interesting point to tackle as Boyega would be playing a Black man who attempts to change the toxic environment within the police system. This will air during a time where many protests are calling for complete defunding and abolishment, with no trust in the concept of “good cops” changing an inherently broken system from within. So, I’m quite interested to see how this series tackles those layers.
“I think audiences will identify with the trials, tribulations and joy of our characters as well as reflecting on the present environment in which we find ourselves,” McQueen said at the time of the series’ announcement. “The dynamic nature of the series allows us to confront injustice in the face of adversity.”
Steve Toussaint, Tyrone Huntley, Nathan Vidal and Jaden Oshenye will co-star in this episode, which was co-written by McQueen and Courttia Newland. It was also announced that the other parts of the series will be titled “Mangrove,” “Lovers Rock,” “Alex Wheatle” and “Education.” “Mangrove” and “Lovers Rock,” were screened in June as part of the Cannes Film Festival where McQueen dedicated the films to George Floyd and “all the other Black people that have been murdered, seen or unseen, because of who they are.”