Originally published August 10, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
With a new trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story set to arrive on Thursday [watch a teaser here], Riz Ahmed has been speaking to Entertainment Weekly about his character Bodhi Rook, a former Imperial pilot who has defected to the Rebellion.
“A character like Bodhi is not born into the life of a soldier,” states Ahmed. “He’s a pilot working for the Empire, doing his job, getting on with it. But when you put ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, it can freak them out. It can inspire deep passions. So I’m gonna defend Bodhi.”
“Everyone in this Star Wars movie has got quite a complex past”, he continues. “They have a lot of baggage and history to it. That’s part of what makes it an interesting, nuanced movie. It’s taking characters with interesting backgrounds, whether it’s warrior monks, or ex-assassins, or long-distance truck drivers, and you’re assembling this pack of misfits.”
Asked why Bodhi continues to sport the Imperial insignia on his shoulder, Ahmed said that, “I think it’s to remind you of where you’re coming from, remind you where your debts are. Do you know what I mean? For me personally, every day, looking at that, it reminds you of what you’ve done.”
In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.
SEE ALSO: Follow all of our Star Wars coverage here
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is set for release on December 16th 2016, with a cast that includes Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Diego Luna (Milk), Ben Mendelsohn (The Dark Knight Rises), Donnie Yen (Ip Man), Jiang Wen (Let the Bullets Fly), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Alan Tudyk (Con Man), Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler), Genevieve O’Reilly (Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith), Jimmy Smits (Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones) and Jonathan Aris (Sherlock).
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