Riz Ahmed Emailed 14 Auditions for His Part in 'Rogue One' Before Hearing Back
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story co-star Riz Ahmed was on the Tonight Show and told Jimmy Fallon about how his trademark nervous intensity almost cost him the role of Bodhi Rook. “I almost completely screwed up the audition,” he shared with Fallon. “The director phoned me up, and he said, “Listen, I want you to audition for this role.” He knew some of my work from, like, indie movies. Gareth Edwards really kindly asked me to audition, sent me some script, some, like, pages for a scene to do. So, I mean, that’s all fine, but he made the mistake of giving me his email address.”
Remember that scene from Swingers when Mike leaves a message … and then a few more? Well, Ahmed basically did the same thing. “I sent him one version of the scene of the audition, and a few hours later, I was like, ‘I’ll do it another way,’” Ahmed continued as Fallon winced. “And then, a few hours later, I did that again. And then, like, I woke up the next day, there wasn’t a reply. So I thought, you know, ‘I should send him some more.’”
Ahmed wound up sending 14 different takes. “[Edwards] then called me a few weeks later,” Ahmed said. “It was a pretty tense few weeks. I was like, ‘I’ve really screwed this up.’ He said, ‘I’m not going to take out a restraining order. I’m gonna put you in the film, so thank you.’”
Gareth Edwards Compares Rogue One to The Wizard of Oz:
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