Riz Ahmed revealed he was hospitalized while filming the Star Wars prequel Rogue One after he experienced “intense” pain.
While appearing on the Wednesday episode of Penn Badgley’s Podcrushed podcast, Ahmed explained that he had to “grapple with the grief but also the acceptance” he experienced following a “very intense” health scare while filming the 2016 film.
Ahmed shared that his “body just kind of, like, gave up on” him and that he “was extremely exhausted” when he was filming the movie. His health became so bad that he was hospitalized “for a brief period” of time where he had to “really try and regain my strength.”
“It was like building myself up from scratch,” Ahmed said. “It was super scary and intense and quite prolonged actually.”
The actor, who played Bodhi Rook in Rogue One, said that “it really wasn’t clear” why he felt ill. “Something very silent and very intense had happened to me and I wasn’t getting better quickly,” he continued.
The pain got so bad that Ahmed wondered if he would ever get his “life back.” He said that the uncertainty of his health led to a “deep kind of grief and fear and terror.” However, the experience also helped him discover “a kind of tremendous liberation and gratitude and acceptance.”
“I always think that when you’re brought to your knees, you’re halfway towards praying,” Ahmed continued. He then added that “when something is taken away from you, you become even more acutely aware of everything you have — and a bodily level, on a health level, you realize like, you don’t control anything, man. You don’t control a single thing. You don’t even control your body.”
Following the health scare, Ahmed explained that the situation helped him realize that “everything is a gift.” He continued, “In the most strange way, I never felt more grateful, more at peace, more content than when I felt like I was going to lose my whole life.”
Not only did the experience change is perspective on his personal life, but it also impacted him professionally. In fact, the hospitalization inspired him to take on the role of a drummer who’s losing his hearing in the 2019 movie Sound of Metal. “When I read the script, I was like, ‘I know what this is, you know, and I need to tell this story,’” Ahmed explained. “The story you need finds you at the right time.”