John Boyega has hit out at Samuel L. Jackson after the Pulp Fiction star criticised the casting of British actors as African-Americans in movies.
Jackson’s comments were made in relation to Jordan Peele’s new comedy horror Get Out, which features British actor Daniel Kaluuya as an African-American man meeting his white girlfriend’s parents for the first time.
“I think it’s great that movie’s doing everything it’s doing and people are loving it,” Jackson said. “But… I know the young brother who’s in the movie, and he’s British. I tend to wonder what that movie would have been with an American brother who really feels that.”
He suggested that as a Brit, Daniel would not fully understand the difficulties of interracial dating experienced by African-Americans.
“Daniel grew up in a country where they’ve been interracial dating for a hundred years,” he told US radio station Hot 97. “What would a brother from America have made of that role? Some things are universal but (not everything is).”
But British actor Boyega hit back at Jackson on Twitter. “Black brits vs African American. A stupid ass conflict we don’t have time for,” he wrote.
A number of black British stars have been cast as African-American characters in Hollywood in recent years, with notable examples including David Oyelowo playing civil rights leader Martin Luther King in Selma and Chiwetel Ejiofor starring as Solomon Northup in 12 Years A Slave.
Black brits vs African American. A stupid ass conflict we don't have time for.
— John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) March 8, 2017
Jackson previously criticised the cast of Star Wars: The Force Awakens over their fighting skills saying the “kids need to go to lightsaber school”.
Read more: Star Wars Episode 8 – The Last Jedi: release date, trailers, cast, and everything we know so far
The actor, who played Jedi Master Mace Windu in the Star Wars prequels, hailed the JJ Abrams movie but said he was disappointed with John Boyega, Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley’s fighting skills.
Meanwhile Boyega, recently teased a series of “frustrating” scenes for his character in the forthcoming Star Wars 8 movie.
The Last Jedi is set for release on December 15.