Riz Ahmed reveals how he landed a role on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Actor Riz Ahmed has experience working on major motion pictures, TV shows, and productions. One of his most prominent roles includes playing Imperial cargo pilot Bodhi Rook in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. However, while appearing on The Jonathan Ross Show, Ahmed spoke about how much he wanted the part and how it made him a little bit crazy.
Ahmed admits that he wanted to be in the Star Wars spinoff so severely that he pushed the limits to convince the director he was right for the part. He says, “I went a bit overboard, a bit over the top, I got a bit obsessive about my work. They were like, ‘Could you read for this scene?’ And the director made the stupid mistake of giving me his email address so I recorded an audition and I sent it to him … I started thinking, ‘Hang on a minute, I can do it better’ so I sent him another audition. And I sent him another one.”
But Ahmed did stop there. Three takes were not enough. He reveals, “Over the next three days I sent him 14 different versions of this scene. And the thing is when I watch them back now, they are not even that different. I just changed my clothes!”
Ahmed ended up getting the role on Rogue One. But it begs the question – would this work for every aspiring actor?
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