Victoria Mahoney Becomes First Black Female Director On A ‘Star Wars’ Film

Last month, we wrote a piece about how “Star Wars” was failing with their lack of diversity behind the camera. It was noted that even though there are plenty of women and POCs on the creative side of Lucasfilm, there has yet to be a Black director behind the camera. According to a recent tweet, that is changing.

Ava DuVernay tweeted a picture yesterday that got everyone excited. She announced that Victoria Mahoney, a veteran television director, is set to become the first African-American person to go behind the camera of a ‘Star Wars’ film, as she signs on to be the second-unit director on the upcoming “Star Wars: Episode IX.”

Mahoney has most recently been helming episodes of a variety of TV series including “American Crime,” “Queen Sugar,” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” but also has feature film experience. She wrote and directed a film titled “Yelling at the Sky,” which starred Zoë Kravitz, Sonequa Martin-Green, Jason Clarke, and Gabourey Sidibe.

As previously mentioned, while “Star Wars” has been lagging on hiring diverse people behind the camera, they’ve already been making strides in front of the camera. After the original trilogy was noticeably lacking diverse characters, Lucasfilm has been slowly rectifying that problem in recent years. One of the most notable hires is Thandie Newton, who is set to star in the upcoming “Solo: A Star Wars Story.”

In a recent interview with Radio Times, the actress talks about how special it is to be the first Black actress to have a major role in a ‘Star Wars’ film. “I’m the first woman of color to have a prominent role in the ‘Star Wars’ legacy,” Newton says. “There have been others with one line and Lupita Nyong’o was a computer-generated character [in ‘The Force Awakens’ and ‘The Last Jedi’], but you didn’t get to see the color of her skin. I’m the first.”

“I’m going to have a toy and everything,” she adds. “It’s exciting, but that’s all I can say. It is a big deal.”

“Solo: A Star Wars Story” hits theaters May 25. And Mahoney’s work on “Star Wars: Episode IX” will be seen when it reaches theaters on December 20, 2019.

https://twitter.com/ava/status/986378268742828032