Mark Hamill praises John Boyega for giving impassioned speech at Black Lives Matter protest

Mark Hamill has lauded his Star Wars co-star John Boyega for giving an emotional speech during a Black Lives Matter protest in London.

On Wednesday, the 28-year-old delivered rousing words to the crowd at Hyde Park, with the activists having gathered to protest against racial inequality following the shocking death of African-American man George Floyd at the hands of white police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 25 May.

"Black lives have always mattered," John stated. "We have always been important. We have always meant something. We have always succeeded regardless. And now is the time. I ain't waiting...We are a physical representation of our support for George Floyd. We are a physical representation of our support for Sandra Bland. We are a physical representation of our support for Trayvon Martin. We are a physical representation of our support for Stephen Lawrence.

"I'm speaking to you from my heart. Look, I don't know if I'm going to have a career after this, but f**k that."

The screen star fought back tears as he continued to reference other black victims of police brutality, and urged the protesters to keep behaving in a "peaceful" manner in order to avoid any problems with law enforcement.

He concluded: "I need you to understand how painful this s**t is. I need you to understand how painful it is to be reminded every day that your race means nothing and that isn't the case anymore, that was never the case anymore."

Following his passionate speech, John was praised by the Luke Skywalker actor, who shared a link to his powerful words and wrote alongside it: "Never been more proud of you, John. @JohnBoyega (heart emoji), dad."

A representative also posted a clip of the speech to the official Star Wars Instagram account, and added in the caption: "We stand with and support you, @johnboyega."