Riz Ahmed ended up in the hospital from a “super scary and intense” illness while he was filming “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.”
While on the “Podcrushed” podcast this week, the “Sound of Metal” and “Relay” star explained to the hosts that his body shut down while shooting the “Star Wars” prequel, ultimately putting him in the hospital. The mystery illness got so bad, he had to “retrain” his strength in the aftermath.
“I was like in the middle of filming ‘Star Wars’ and my body just kind of gave up on me,” Ahmed shared. “I was extremely exhausted. I was kind of hospitalized for a brief period and I just had to really try and retrain my strength. It was like building myself up from scratch.”
He continued: “It was super scary and intense and quite prolonged, actually. And for a minute, I was like, ‘Am I ever going to get my life back?’ It really wasn’t clear, you know. Something very silent and very intense had happened to me and I wasn’t getting better quickly.”
“Rogue One” debuted in 2016 as a prequel to “Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope” that showed how the plans to the Death Star ended up in Princess Leia’s possession at the beginning of the original film. It’s regarded as one of if not the strongest films in the Disney-Era of “Star Wars” stories. Ahmed played Bodhi Rook, an Imperial pilot who defected with information on how the Rebels could obtain the plans.
Ahmed also revealed the health scare on the “Star Wars” set inspired him to take the lead role in 2019’s “Sound of Metal.” He was later nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for the role.
“When I read the script, I was like, ‘I know what this is, you know, and I need to tell this story,’” he said. “The story you need finds you at the right time.”
