Riz Ahmed talks diversity in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

With another Star Wars film set for the end of this year, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the hype machine has already begun to grumble into gear. Speaking with HeyUGuys, one of the movie’s stars, Riz Ahmed, touched upon the diversity that the film is helping represent in big budget blockbusters.

‘Star Wars is such a touchstone for cinema, and has been for decades. It’s really cool to see that they’ve been leading the way in terms of representing diversity. I wouldn’t even call it diversity – I’d call it honesty, really. Just kind of aligning our films with the society and times that we’re living in.’

He also spoke about what to expect in terms of tone from the new movie, interestingly noting that director Gareth Edwards (Godzilla, Monsters) is conceptualising it as a war movie.

‘What Gareth Edwards has been bringing to Rogue One is an incredible, organic, loose, raw feeling. When he talks about Rogue One, he’s spoken about it in terms of a war movie… what he’ll bring is a fresh pair of eyes on a familiar world. I think that’s really exciting. We’re doing something a little bit different to the other films, and hopefully people are ready for that and embrace it.’

Ahmed, best known for the comedy Four Lions, will be playing an as-yet-unnamed character in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which is released December 14.