'Star Wars' actor Riz Ahmed reveals Homeland Security kept him from attending film event

British actor Riz Ahmed poses on the red carpet upon arrival at the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London on February 10, 2019. British actor Riz Ahmed poses on the red carpet upon arrival at the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London on February 10, 2019. Photo: TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images Photo: TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images Image 1 of / 39 Caption Close 'Star Wars' actor Riz Ahmed reveals Homeland Security kept him from attending film event 1 / 39 Back to Gallery

Actor Riz Ahmed, who played Bodhi Rook in 2016's "Rogue One" opposite Felicity Jones and Diego Luna, revealed this week that he was kept from being able to attend the Star Wars Celebration in Chicago last April when he was stopped by Homeland Security at an undisclosed airport.

Ahmed told the audience at the CAA Amplify conference in Ojai, Calif., this week that he's been periodically stopped at airports over the past 10 years, despite his rising fame, all because of his race. Ahmed, who was born in England, is of Pakistani descent.

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In April, the Star Wars convention had announced via Twitter that Ahmed would be canceling his appearance "due to circumstances beyond his control," but did not detail what had happened.

Several months later, Ahmed clarified what exactly kept him from the planned photo op for fans, and called for cognizance and action around "systemic" issues.

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"(Comedian Hassan Minhaj) can win a Peabody, I can win an Emmy, (American fencer) Ibtihaj Muhammad can go to the Olympics, but some of these obstacles are systemic and we can't really face them alone," Ahmed told the crowd per a Variety account. "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."

Ahmed also connected what he went through with damaging portrayals of Muslims onscreen.

"I think lives are quite literally at stake here," he continued. "The representation of Muslims on screen — that feeds the policies that get enacted, the people that get killed, the countries that get invaded."

As Variety reports, Ahmed's presentation received a standing ovation.

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGate producer. Email: apereira@sfchronicle.com | Twitter: @alyspereira

