Riz Ahmed

The first few trailers for Girls’ sixth and final season have shown off a few notable cameos, but not necessarily any of the ones we’d heard previously. Well, apparently we can throw Rogue One and The Night Of and The OA star Riz Ahmed on that list as well, as revealed in a new photo.

It’s downright mystifying that Una, Australian theatre veteran Benedict Andrews’ first foray into screen directing, hasn’t found an American distributor as of yet. It’s got two major stars in Rooney Mara and Ben Mendelsohn — and with Riz Ahmed also appearing as a supporting player, they could even work the “Rogue One reunion” angle! — the reviews out of its screenings at the film festivals in Telluride and Toronto were uniformly strong, and it also happens to be excellent. (I was one of the critics praising the film as a superb actors’ showcase back at Toronto.) While there’s no U.S. release date on the horizon, it’s only a matter of time until some clever distributor makes a move, and for now, we’ve got a new trailer.

For a lot of the creators of Rogue One, making a Star Wars movie was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Actor Riz Ahmed, who plays cargo pilot Bodhi Rook in the film, told me his Star Wars roots go deep, but he wouldn’t put himself in the category of a “super fan.” When I asked him to name the wildest super fan he’s met so far in his travels, he told me a story about a recent trip from Toronto to San Francisco.

Riz Ahmed, whose breakout role was in this year’s HBO drama The Night Of, stars in December’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The new movie has the most diverse cast of any Star Wars film to date, also starring Forest Whitaker, Donnie Yen, Diego Luna, and Sharon Duncan-Brewster, to name just a few. Ahmed spoke about this diversity in a recent interview, and also provided some insight into his cargo pilot-turned-rebel character Bodhi.

In Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Felicity Jones’ rebellious Jyn Erso and her team are on a mission to retrieve the plans to the Death Star which, judging by these new character posters, have been right in front of their faces THE ENTIRE TIME. Actually, on their faces, and they look like intricate Etch-a-Sketch doodles uploaded to the Grid in Tron.

The latest trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will debut Thursday night during NBC’s coverage of the 2016 Olympics, but until then, we have some new intel on Gareth Edwards’ spinoff / prequel to hold you over. Specifically, Edwards has offered interesting details on a new desert planet (yes, another one) featured in Rogue One, while Riz Ahmed shares a little background on his mysterious Rebel pilot character, Bodhi.

HBO’s The Night Of may not have the commercial success of initially one-off series like True Detective, but the network would be foolish to ignore the megawatt critical praise. The former James Gandolfini project will have a specific end, but producers now reveal their consideration of a second season, likely an anthology with a new subject.

It’s been a great year for Riz Ahmed, who broke out with his part in last year’s Jake Gyllenhaal thriller Nightcrawler and landed a role in Star Wars: Rogue One opposite Felicity Jones. And while the Bourne series is no Star Wars, it’s still a major, beloved franchise, and one that Ahmed has now officially joined.

ScreenCrush’s WookieeLeaks is a weekly roundup of everything Star Wars! From Episode 7 to the upcoming spinoffs and the TV shows, if it pertains to that long ago, far away galaxy, we’re covering it here, bringing you our expert analysis. This week, we explore the diversity of the new Star Wars and delve into all of the craziest new rumors and spoilers.

While we’ve been basking in the warm, loving glow of the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Gareth Edwards’ Star Wars: Rogue One has been quietly assembling its various components. First, Felicity Jones was cast in a lead role. Then Ben Mendelsohn supposedly joined the ensemble. Now, Riz Ahmed, who is probably best known for playing the straight face to Jake Gyllenhaal’s memorable craziness in Nightcrawler, is supposedly signing up.