Rogue One actors gave 'intense' performances because they weren't allowed toilet breaks

'It feels very immersive and it's kind of a boots-on-the-ground feel. We'd do these intense scenes and we'd do it again and again and again without stopping'

Who would have thought the cast of Rogue One would be taking acting tips from Joey Tribbiani?

Remember when Joey in Friends realised a desperate need to pee was key to bringing out the intensity needed to impress theatrical legend Leonard Hayes (Jeff Goldblum)? Well, director Gareth Edwards appears either to have come to the same realisation - or just simply grabbed directing tips from a TV sitcom - when it comes to tackling the first of the Star Wars spin-offs.

Disney has long been hyping Rogue One as the gritty, guerilla war film of the Star Wars canon; with Riz Ahmed revealing to Stephen Colbert all that intensity was partially thanks to the fact the actors weren't allowed to take toilet breaks.

"It's different to the other Star Wars movies," Ahmed stated. "It feels very immersive and it's kind of a boots-on-the-ground feel. We'd do these intense scenes and we'd do it again and again and again without stopping. The whole film has a really intense energy, partly that's because of that process but partly that's because we never got a break to go to the toilet. At all."

As Colbert termed it, "rage bladder" may turn out just to be an added little aid in crafting a very different Star Wars film; as Ahmed stars across from the likes of Felicity Jones, Donnie Yen, Diego Luna, Jian Wen, Forest Whitaker, Alan Tudyk, Mads Mikkelsen and Ben Mendelsohn.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story follows a wayward band of Rebel fighters brought together for one improbable mission: steal the plans for the Death Star. These events, of course, directly link into the first scenes of A New Hope; when Princess Leia is seen concealing the plans in R2-D2 before she's captured by the Galactic Empire.

Rogue One hits UK theatres 16 December.