Star Wars: How Rogue One's Riz Ahmed Feels About Not Appearing In Andor

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Actor Riz Ahmed is always a reliably strong performer, and he's built a solid resume to match his talent. One of his most high-profile roles was in 2016's "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story." Ahmed played Bodhi Rook, an Imperial pilot from planet Jedha who defects to the Rebellion with vital info on the Death Star. But you may not remember that just from the "Rogue One" prequel series "Andor," since Ahmed/Bodhi is nowhere to be seen.

On the press tour for his new thriller movie "Relay," Ahmed was asked about being left out of "Andor" during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. While joking about a Bodhi Rook solo movie, Ahmed confirmed he didn't mind not appearing because he knew it was for the best with "Andor" creator Tony Gilroy's vision:

"[Gilroy] has got such an intricate way of plotting things, and he felt that bringing my character in would mess with timelines and the way he'd plotted lots of stuff through. But as a fan, I think 'Andor' is kind of perfect, so I wouldn't mess with it or have it any other way."

Ahmed's acting career is intertwined with the Gilroy family. His breakout role was in 2014's "Nightcrawler," written and directed by Tony Gilroy's brother, Dan. Ahmed proved with "Nightcrawler" he could hold his own against Jake Gyllenhaal giving 110%, so no surprise Lucasfilm locked down the rising star for a "Star Wars" movie.

"Rogue One" was directed by Gareth Edwards, but Tony Gilroy (who never saw himself making a "Star Wars" movie) oversaw reshoots, giving Ahmed a chance to work with the other Gilroy brother. When Disney was struggling to make a spin-off show about Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) work, they again called up Gilroy, resulting in the "kind of perfect" version of "Andor" that so many (Ahmed included) love.

With "Andor," Gilroy and his team (including the aforementioned Dan Gilroy who wrote six "Andor" episodes) were making a "Star Wars" show that was about more than just "Star Wars." It's about living under a fascist regime and the choices people make about how to react to that. Do you keep your head down? Do you raise a hand over that head as a salute, dutifully obeying the oppressor? Or when you raise your hand, do you do so in resistance?

Unlike "Rogue One," Gilroy got to pick most of the show's cast himself, and he selected a varied group of the most interesting POVs in the show's setting. Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) is the experienced and ruthlessly pragmatic Rebel. He's not a stock, Obi-Wan-ish mentor character by any stretch, but he is a vision of who Cassian will become. Complementing Luthen, Gilroy and co. finally developed Senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) into a true character; a fighter against the Empire who lives at its heart, the comfortable idealist to Luthen's realist. 

Imperial Officer Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) and social climber Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) are the viewpoints inside the Imperial machinery. They show why someone would choose loyalty to an oppressive institution ... and, in the end, how "fascism eats its young" as Gilroy put it. 

Cassian's story is that of a bystander becoming a Rebel. He already had the most deeply implied backstory of the "Rogue One" leads, since he'd been a Rebel operative for a long time. But rather than telling simple but adventurous stories of Cassian on missions, Gilroy didn't take for granted that we understood what drove Mr. Andor. 

Most of the other Disney+ "Star Wars" shows feel like the story is constructed around bringing in familiar faces, i.e. turning the "Obi-Wan Kenobi" show into a rematch between Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and his pupil-turned-to-evil Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen). Not so with "Andor." This is a show that decided against an Emperor Palpatine cameo because it wouldn't fit, whereas a different "Star Wars" show might've jumped straight to getting Ian McDiarmid back as the Dark Lord of the Sith.

Besides Cassian himself, the only other future members of the Rogue One squad who appear in "Andor" are Cassian's old friend Ruescott Melshi (Duncan Pow) and the reprogrammed droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk). "Andor" season 2 also brings in the villain of "Rogue One," Death Star project director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn). These, though, are returning characters that do service the story.

"Andor" must lead into where Cassian was in "Rogue One," i.e. on a mission to learn about and destroy the Death Star. K-2 was his partner in the movie, so the series should show how they met. Much of "Andor" season 2 is set on or around planet Ghorman, where the Empire is planning to incite a rebellion that they can put down. Why? The planet has a mineral they need for the Death Star's construction. Since Ghorman is a rich and influential world, the Empire needs pretext to invade and strip mine it.

It makes all the sense in the world that Krennic would be overseeing that project, and it also fits the story "Andor" had already been telling. The Ghorman massacre once more shows the bureaucratic and realpolitik violence of authoritarianism; the Death Star took lives in more subtle ways than literally blowing up a planet with a giant laser.

We only know the broad strokes of Bodhi Rook's journey, but it appears he underwent a similar evolution as Cassian: a bystander whose conscience pushed him to resistance. He makes that pivotal choice during "Rogue One" itself, so there was nothing much "Andor" could add to it. If Tony Gilroy wants to cast Riz Ahmed in whatever project he makes next, though, I'm sure the two could make some magic together.

Both seasons of "Andor" are streaming on Disney+.