Actor Riz Ahmed, who played Bodhi Rook in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, was originally slated to appear at Star Wars Celebration in Chicago. However, he's now revealed he missed the event after Homeland Security stopped him from boarding a plane.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ahmed spoke about the occurrence at the Amplify leadership summer. The award-winning actor discussed his own experience and how for 15 years he has been frequently stopped and searched at airports on the basis of his race.
"[Hasan Minhaj] can win a Peabody," Ahmed said. "I can win an Emmy, Ibtihaj Muhammad can go to the Olympics, but some of these obstacles are systemic and we can’t really face them alone, we need your help. I'm basically here to ask for your help, because it’s really scary to be a Muslim right now, super scary. I've often wondered, is this going to be the year when they round us up, if this is going to be the year they put Trump’s registry into action. If this is going to be the year they ship us all off."
"How I do what I do is because like all of you here, I’m a code-switcher," he added. "We all know how to change the way we talk, the way we dress, the way we walk as we enter one room or another. We all know how to navigate terrain that isn’t of our own making. That’s how I can do it, but that’s not why I do what I do. The why is because I don’t want to have to code-switch anymore."
Ahmed is known for his work in such films as Nightcrawler, Rogue One, Venom and HBO's newest series, The Night Of.