Star Wars: Rogue One - Riz Ahmed's pilot is "a little tense and volatile"

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It's a safe bet that the second trailer for Star Wars: Rogue One - which will be arriving later this week - will give us a better look at the rebels we'll be getting to know later this year. That includes Riz Ahmed’s pilot Bodhi Rook - whom Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy describes as "a little tense" and "a little volatile" - and ahead of the new promo Ahmed revealed some more details about his character to Entertainment Weekly:

"Bodhi is a cargo pilot. In our world, Bodhi would be a truck driver. A long-distance truck driver. A character like Bodhi is not born into the life of a soldier. 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".

"The feel of this film is quite rough and ready, and so is the mission and so are the characters, and so is the coming together of the characters", Ahmed continued. "So the idea of people having special ships that they spit-shine and say, ‘Hey, this is my ship called the XYZ,’ that’s not of this world. This world is more about ‘Grab what you can, and let’s roll".

Ahmed also noted that while Bodhi still wears the Imperial sprocket insignia on his sleeve despite having joined up with the rebels, it's not out of loyalty to the Empire: "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".

Directed by Gareth Edwards and starring Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen and Alan Tudyk, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is scheduled to open in UK and US cinemas on December 16, 2016.

Images: Disney/LucasFilm

Amon Warmann
Amon Warmann

Amon is a contributing editor and columnist for Empire magazine, but is also a Film and TV writer for GamesRadar+, Total Film, and others. He has also written for NME, Composer Mag, and more, along with being a film critic for TalkSport. He is also the co-host of the Fade to Black Podcast, and a video mashup creator. Can also do a pretty good Bane impersonation.