Star Wars star Riz Ahmed is no stranger to hostility at the U.S. border; back in September, he penned a moving essay in the Guardian recounting incidents he faced while starting out as an actor and the dangers of being British Pakistani in a post–9/11 world. But things have gotten even worse since then, so to help others, Ahmed recruited John Turturro, who played the eczema-afflicted lawyer in charge of defending Ahmed’s character on HBO’s The Night Of. “Do you sometimes get the itch to just do something?” asks Ahmed.
“Yeah, sometimes I get very itchy,” replies Turturro, probably inducing some uncomfortably vivid flashbacks of his inflamed feet in Night Of fans.
But Ahmed isn’t talking about eczema; he’s taking about his fundraiser with the Karam Foundation, which aims to provide food, shelter, and medical aid to the tens of thousands of people who have been evacuated from Aleppo, Syria.
“It’s now harder and harder for them to flee the misery they’re suffering through no fault of their own,” Ahmed explains of the campaign, which has already raised more than $100,000. “With everything that’s going on right now, we’ve decided to extend our campaign, so we’re just asking you to go online and donate.” Trump’s recent executive order has effectively barred Syrian refugees, who are living under an extreme humanitarian crisis, from entering the United States indefinitely.
If neither that worthy cause nor the prospect of winning Bodhi Rook’s approval are enough to convince you to contribute, Ahmed is also offering prizes, including signed Star Wars memorabilia and tickets to see his hip-hop trio, Swet Shop Boys. Demonstrators at LAX over the weekend used the lyrics from Swet Shop Boys’ song “T5” as a protest chant:
