Riz Ahmed | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Ahmed at the2025 Cannes Film Festival | |
| Born | Rizwan Ahmed (1982-12-01)1 December 1982 (age 43) London, England |
| Education | Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards | Full list |
| Musical career | |
| Also known as | Riz MC |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels |
|
| Member of | Swet Shop Boys |
Musical artist | |
Rizwan Ahmed[b] (born(1982-12-01)1 December 1982) is a British actor and rapper. He has receivedseveral awards, including anAcademy Award and aPrimetime Emmy Award, and nominations for twoGolden Globe Awards and twoBritish Academy Film Awards. In 2017, he was named byTime as one of themost influential people in the world.
After studying acting at theRoyal Central School of Speech and Drama, Ahmed began his acting career with independent films such asThe Road to Guantanamo(2006),Shifty (2008),Four Lions (2010),Trishna (2011), andThe Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012). He had his break-out role inNightcrawler (2014), which led to roles in the 2016 big-budget filmsJason Bourne andRogue One. For starring as a young man accused of murder in theHBO miniseriesThe Night Of (2016), Ahmed won thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series. He received another Emmy nomination in the same year for his guest role inGirls. He went on to playCarlton Drake in the superhero filmVenom (2018) and a drummer who loses his hearing in the drama filmSound of Metal (2019). The latter earned him a nomination for theAcademy Award for Best Actor. He produced, co-wrote, and starred inMogul Mowgli (2020), which earned a nomination for theBAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film.
As a rapper, Ahmed is a member of theSwet Shop Boys, and has earned critical acclaim with thehip hop albumsMicroscope andCashmere, and commercial success featuring in theBillboard 200 chart-toppingHamilton Mixtape, with his song "Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)" winning anMTV Video Music Award. His second studio album,The Long Goodbye, was accompanied by a short film of the same name, which won him theAcademy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.
Ahmed was born on 1 December 1982[1] inWembley, a suburb in theLondon Borough of Brent, to aBritish Pakistani family ofBhojpuriMuhajir background.[2][3] His parents moved to England fromKarachi, Pakistan, during the 1970s.[2] Ahmed's father is a shipping broker,[4] and he is a descendant ofShah Muhammad Sulaiman, the first Indian Chief Justice of theAllahabad High Court duringBritish colonial rule in India.[5]
Ahmed attendedMerchant Taylors' School, Northwood, through a scholarship programme. He graduated fromChrist Church,Oxford University, with a degree inPhilosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE). He experienced a culture shock at Oxford, nearly dropping out due to the isolating atmosphere. Instead, Ahmed organised parties to celebrate cultures which did not conform to the dominant "elitist, white" and "black-tie" culture of Oxford.[6] He later studied acting at theRoyal Central School of Speech and Drama.[2]
Ahmed's film career began in the 2006 when Irfan (Cousin of Amir Khan) helped launch his acting career.Michael Winterbottom filmThe Road to Guantánamo, in which he played the part ofShafiq Rasul, a member of theTipton Three. He and another actor involved in the film were detained atLuton Airport upon their return from theBerlin Film Festival where the film won a Silver Bear Award.Cite error: A<ref> tag is missing the closing</ref> (see thehelp page).</ref>date=21 February 2006 | access-date=8 November 2009 | archive-date=17 July 2012 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717042113/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/4736748.stm | url-status=live }}</ref> Ahmed alleged that during questioning, police asked him whether he had become an actor to further theIslamic cause, questioned him on his views of theIraq War, verbally abused him, and denied him access to a telephone.[7]
In 2007, he portrayed Sohail Waheed in theChannel 4 drama,Britz. Ahmed then portrayed Riq in the five-part horror thrillerDead Set forE4 and Manesh Kunzru in ITV1'sWired in 2008. Also that year he played a primary school teacher in Staffroom Monologues for the specialist channelTeachers TV. In July 2009, he appeared inFreefall alongsideSarah Harding.[2] He featured in the title role of the 2009 independent filmShifty, directed byEran Creevy, where he plays a day in the life of a charismatic young drug dealer. He was nominated for Best Actor at the2008 British Independent Film Awards.[8]
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Continuing his film career, he featured in the 2009Sally Potter production ofRage and in 2010, inChris Morris' satire on terrorism,Four Lions, for which he received his secondBritish Independent Film Award nomination for Best Actor. Ahmed also had a supporting role inNeil Marshall's historical thrillerCenturion.[9] In 2012, he starred as one of the leading roles in the London-based filmIll Manors, directed byPlan B. Ahmed received his thirdBritish Independent Film Award nomination for Best Actor. He assumed the lead role in Mira Nair's adaptation of the best-selling novel byMohsin Hamid,The Reluctant Fundamentalist, alongside Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland, Om Puri, Shabana Azmi, and Liev Schreiber.[10]
Ahmed is also known for his stage performances such as in theAsian Dub Foundation operaGaddafi and a starring role as psychotic serial-killer-turned-born-again-Christian Lucius in the Lighthouse Theatre's acclaimed production ofStephen Adly Guirgis'sJesus Hopped the 'A' Train (directed by Jack William Clift and Thomas Sweatman) as well as in Shan Khan'sPrayer Room.[11]
Ahmed directed and wrote a 2014short film,Daytimer. It won the Best Live Action Short award atNashville Film Festival, and was nominated for the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at theSundance Film Festival.[12] In 2014, Ahmed appeared inDan Gilroy'sNightcrawler.[13] Ahmed received acclaim for his portrayal in the film and gained numerous awards nominations during awards season.[14] Riz Ahmed was one of seventy-five actors to audition for the role of Rick.[15] The British actor was attending a friend's wedding in Los Angeles, when histalent agent suggested he meet Gilroy to discuss the film's script. Gilroy told Ahmed that he had seen his previous work; he was not fit for the role, but still allowed him to audition.[16] Within the first minute of his audition tape, however, Gilroy felt confident in the actor's abilities.[15] To prepare for the role, Ahmed met with homeless people inSkid Row, and researchedhomeless shelters to "understand the system". He found that most of the people dealt withabandonment issues, and attempted to replicate this in Rick's abusive relationship with Lou.[16]
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In 2016, he appeared inRogue One, the first film in the newStar Wars anthology films asBodhi Rook, a defected imperial pilot.[17] The film garnered critical acclaim and earned Ahmed a nomination for theBest Male Newcomer at theEmpire Awards.[18] The film was a commercial success and became Disney's fourth of 2016 to earn $1 billion in ticket sales.[19] It is thesecond highest-grossing film of 2016, the third highest-grossingStar Wars film, and the22nd highest-grossing film of all time, all unadjusted for inflation. In the United States, it was thetop-grossing film of 2016.[20][21]Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $319.6 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film, making it the 3rd most profitable release of 2016.[22]
In 2016, Ahmed played the role of Nasir "Naz" Khan in theHBO miniseriesThe Night Of,[23] and once again received universal praise for his performance, earning himEmmy,[24]Golden Globe[25] andScreen Actors Guild Award nominations.[26] He also appeared in the final season ofGirls, earning him anotherEmmy nomination.[27] At the69th Primetime Emmy Awards, Ahmed won the award forOutstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his performance inThe Night Of,[28][29] winning overRobert De Niro,Benedict Cumberbatch,Ewan McGregor,Geoffrey Rush and co-starJohn Turturro.[28] This made Ahmed the firstAsian and firstMuslim to win in the category, the firstSouth Asian male to win an acting Emmy,[28] and the first Muslim and first South Asian to win a lead acting Emmy; the only previous South Asian to win an acting Emmy wasBritish Asian actressArchie Panjabi for a supporting role in 2010.[30][31]
In 2017, it was rumoured that Ahmed was to playHamlet in aNetflix adaptation of theShakespeare play,[32] which Ahmed later confirmed.[33]
In 2018, Ahmed starred inVenom in the dual role ofCarlton Drake, theLife Foundation's leader experimenting onsymbiotes, andRiot, a symbioteteam leader allied with Drake who seeks toinvade Earth.[34][35] Ahmed explained that Drake is trying to save the future of humanity when he discovers the symbiote,[35] with Fleischer adding that Drake has a positive goal but a "moral ambiguity" that leads to him testing his science on other people.[36]
As of 2018, films that Ahmed had been involved in had collectively grossed$2.4 billion at the worldwide box office.[37]
Following his mixtape under the same name, Ahmed'sEnglistan, an original TV series was commissioned byBBC Two and Left Handed Films in 2018.[38] The series will tell the story of three generations of a British Pakistani family.[39] Ahmed describes the series as "a period drama – unlike any other period drama you have seen before."[39] More currently, his production company secured a first look deal with Amazon.[40]
Ahmed starred in the American drama filmSound of Metal, which was distributed byAmazon Studios and released in 2020, after having premiered at theToronto International Film Festival in 2019. Ahmed plays a drummer who loses his hearing. The film co-starsOlivia Cooke as his girlfriend, andPaul Raci as the leader of a Deaf retreat.IndieWire film critic Eric Kohn praised Ahmed's performance, writing "Ahmed's so believable that he keeps the suspense of the drama in play even as it pushes into contrived circumstances during the prolonged final act, and eventually takes a melodramatic plunge."[41] For his performance he has receivedAcademy Award,Golden Globe Award,Screen Actors Guild Award,BAFTA Award,Critics Choice Award, andIndependent Spirit Award nominations. He is the first Muslim and British Pakistani actor to be nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Actor.
In 2021, Ahmed also executive produced the animated documentary filmFlee which made its international debut at theSundance Film Festival. The film was universally praised by critics and nominated forBest International Feature Film,Best Documentary Feature andBest Animated Feature at the94th Academy Awards .[42][43]
In February 2021, Ahmed was nominated and won in the best debut screenwriter category for the filmMogul Mowgli at the delayedBritish Independent Film Awards 2020.[44] Starring in the main role as a British-Pakistani rapper,The Guardian film critic Wendy Ide praised his "blistering performance" on screen.[45]
In August 2021, Ahmed was named as head of thePlatform Prize jury for the2021 Toronto International Film Festival.[46] In November 2021, Ahmed was announced as a recipient of the Richard Harris Award, which is given to an actor or actress who has "contributed significantly to British films throughout their career".[47]
The Long Goodbye also was adapted into a short film, directed byAneil Karia. It wonBest Live Action Short Film at the94th Academy Awards. Ahmed voiced Ballister Boldheart inNimona, which released on 30 June 2023 on Netflix.[48] He also starred inFingernails, which was released on 27 October 2023 byApple Original Films.[49] He has an upcoming role in the independent filmRelay. In November 2023 Riz Ahmed and his company Left Handed Films joined the 2023 SXSW audience award winnerMustache. In August 2025, it was announced that Ahmed would be voicingProfessor Snape inHarry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions, a production ofAudible andJ.K. Rowling'sPottermore.[50]
Inspired byjungle andhip hop music, his music career began in his mid-teens, appearing onpirate radio and infreestyle rap battles.[51] While at university, Ahmed co-founded the Hit & Run night inOxford, which has since moved toManchester and gone on to become one of Manchester's leading underground music events.[52] At Oxford, he was also part of a 12-personjazz-house/electronica band called Confidential Collective.[51] After graduating, he competed in and won manyrap battle competitions.[51] He competed as Riz MC on JumpOff TV's "Spin the Mic" freestyle rap battle contest in 2006. He beat contestants Stig and Skilla Mic,[53] before a controversial loss to contest winner Whatshisface; according to JumpOff TV, Riz was at a disadvantage due to racial double standards from the crowd.[54]
In 2006, Ahmed recorded a satirical social-commentary rap track entitled "Post 9/11 Blues", which he wrote after being detained in Luton.[55] It was leaked by friends and first gained popularity through the internet.[51] The song was initially banned from British airplay because the lyrics were deemed "politically sensitive", including satirical references to9/11,terrorism, thepost-9/11 climate,Iraq War,death of Jean Charles de Menezes, theMI6, andBelmarsh prison.[56] The resulting press coverage, however, prompted someindependent radio stations to play the track. He soon founded his ownindependent record label, Battered Records, officially releasing "Post 9/11 Blues" for theCD andMP3 formats in August 2006. He went on to win Best MC at the 2006Asian Music Awards. He released his second single in 2007, thegarage rap song "People Like People".[51] He was selected as aBBC Introducing artist in 2007, playing theGlastonbury Festival and theBBC Electric Proms. He opened theMeltdown Festival withBristol-based trip-hop groupMassive Attack at theRoyal Festival Hall in 2008, and was appointed 'Emerging Artist in Residence' at theSouthbank Centre in London. He played at the LondonCamp for Climate Action in August 2009.[11]
In 2011, he released his debut album,Microscope,[57] which was re-released with additional remixes in 2012.[58] On 1 December 2011, it was announced that Riz MC had signed toTru Thoughts, an independent label inBrighton.[59] FromMicroscope, he released "Sour Times" which was accompanied by a video featuringScroobius Pip,Plan B,Tom Hardy,[60] andJim Sturgess.[52] Formed in 2014, Ahmed is half of the hip hop duoSwet Shop Boys along withHeems.[61] Their debut release,Swet Shop EP, was released in 2014.[62] The group's debut full-length effort,Cashmere, was released on 14 October 2016,[63] and received critical acclaim.[64] In 2016, he also released a mixtape,Englistan.[65] He was featured on the song "Immigrants (We Get The Job Done)" inThe Hamilton Mixtape, which topped theBillboard 200 chart. This put him in the unique position of sitting at number-one on both the Billboard 200 album chart and the movie box office chart (withRogue One) at the same time.[66] At the2017 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), "Immigrants" won the award forBest Fight Against the System,[67] giving him the rare distinction of winning both the Emmy and VMA awards.[68]
In 2018, Sadia Habib and Shaf Choudry, two researchers in the UK, were inspired by Ahmed to determine a method to quantify the nature of Muslim representation in film and TV.[69] Ultimately they came up with a test they named "The Riz Test", which has been compared to theBechdel test.[70] The test came about following a speech given by Ahmed in 2017 at theHouse of Commons, in which he addressed what he views as a lack of diversity in film and television.[71] Ahmed has spoken about the lack of accurate representation of Muslims in the arts, and often expresses these views on social media.[72]
The Riz Test has five parts which, according to the creators, serve to highlight and combat the stereotypes of Muslims found in characters in films and on TV:[73][74]
One of the tests' creators, Shaf Choudry, describes the test as not being "a scientific measure of Islamophobia, it’s more to prop conversation."[74]
Ahmed acknowledged the test in 2018, expressing his surprise at the test being named after him and writing on Twitter that he was "glad to see this" and that he thought it was "much needed."[74][75]
As a practicing Muslim, Ahmed has spoken candidly about negative stereotyping of Muslims, both in a personal and societal context.[76][77]
As an activist, he has been involved in raising funds forSyrian refugee children and advocating representation at theHouse of Commons.[78] He has also been involved in raising awareness of the displacement ofRohingya Muslims fromMyanmar, afterRohingya genocide,[79] and raising funds forRohingya refugees in Bangladesh.[80]
In 2013, Ahmed provided journalistHardeep Singh Kohli with a formal apology for a tweet he had published in which he called Singh a "bigot" and falsely accused him of attempted assault. Ahmed also agreed to pay him substantial damages for libel and his legal costs.[81][82]
In 2016, he contributed an essay onracial profiling at airports, auditions and the implicit need to leave himself at a door to be waved through for the anthologyThe Good Immigrant.[83]
During theGaza war, Ahmed called for Israel to stop its "indiscriminate bombing of Gaza’s civilians and vital infrastructure, thedenial of food, water and electricity, the forced displacement of people from their homes", which he called "morally indefensiblewar crimes".[84] In 2023, he signed theArtists4Ceasefire letter addressed to then U.S. PresidentJoe Biden.[85] Ahmed later signed Artists for Palestine UK letters calling uponKeir Starmer to commit to halting arms sales to Israel ahead of the2024 general election[86] and to the BBC condemning "censorship of Palestine" after the documentaryGaza: How to Survive a Warzone (2025) was pulled.[87] He is a signatory of theFilm Workers for Palestine boycott pledge that was published in September 2025.[88]
Riz Ahmed’s work as an actor and musician is closely intertwined with his political activism, particularly around issues of racial justice, immigration, Islamophobia, and representation of marginalized communities.[89]
Ahmed has been married to American novelistFatima Farheen Mirza since 2020.[90][91] In 2025, Ahmed revealed that Mirza gave birth to their first child.[92]
Ahmed was at Merchant Taylors’ School at the same time as British-American journalistMehdi Hasan but were four years apart.[93]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | The Road to Guantánamo | Shafiq | ||
| 2008 | Shifty | Shifty | ||
| Baghdad Express | Talal | Short film | ||
| 2009 | Rage | Vijay | ||
| 2010 | Four Lions | Omar | ||
| Centurion | Tarak | |||
| 2011 | Black Gold | Ali | ||
| Trishna | Jay | |||
| 2012 | Ill Manors | Aaron | ||
| The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Changez Khan | |||
| 2013 | Closed Circuit | Nazrul Sharma | ||
| Out of Darkness | Male | Short film | ||
| 2014 | Daytimer | N/a | Director, writer; Short film | |
| Nightcrawler | Rick | |||
| 2016 | Jason Bourne | Aaron Kalloor | ||
| Una | Scott | |||
| City of Tiny Lights | Tommy Akhtar | |||
| Rogue One | Bodhi Rook | |||
| 2018 | The Sisters Brothers | Hermann Kermit Warm | ||
| Venom | Carlton Drake andRiot (voice) | |||
| 2019 | Sound of Metal | Ruben Stone | Also executive producer | |
| Weathering with You | Takai (voice) | English dub | ||
| 2020 | Mogul Mowgli | Zed | Also co-writer and producer | |
| The Long Goodbye | Riz | Short film; also co-writer | ||
| 2021 | Flee | Amin Nawabi (voice) | Also executive producer | |
| Encounter | Malik Khan | |||
| 2022 | Moshari | N/a | Executive producer; Short film | |
| 2023 | Nimona | Ballister Boldheart (voice) | ||
| Fingernails | Amir | |||
| 2024 | Relay | Ash | ||
| 2025 | The Phoenician Scheme | Prince Farouk | ||
| Hamlet | Prince Hamlet | Also producer | ||
| 2026 | Digger | TBA | Post-production |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | The Path to 9/11 | Yosri | 2 episodes | |
| Berry's Way | Amir | Television film | ||
| 2007 | Britz | Sohail Wahid | 2 episodes | |
| 2008 | Wired | Manesh Kunzru | 3 episodes | |
| Staffroom Monologues | Primary Teacher | "How Are You?" Episode for Teachers TV | ||
| Dead Set | Riq | 5 episodes | ||
| 2009 | Freefall | Gary | Television film | |
| 2011 | The Fades | Neil | Episode: "Episode 1" - Unaired Pilot | |
| 2016 | The Night Of | Nasir Khan | Miniseries; 8 episodes | |
| 2016–19 | The OA | Elias Rahim | 5 episodes | |
| 2017 | Girls | Paul-Louis | 2 episodes | |
| TBA | Bait | Also writer and executive producer.[94] |
| Year | Title | Role | Production company | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | The Sandman | The Corinthian | Audible | |
| Assassin's Creed: Gold | Omar Khaled | |||
| 2025–2026 | Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions | Professor Severus Snape |
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Microscope (as Riz MC) | |
| The Long Goodbye |
|
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Englistan |
|
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "The Post 9/11 Blues" | 2006 | Non-album single |
| "People Like People" | 2007 | |
| "Radar" | 2008 | Microscope |
| "Shifty"(withSway &Plan B) | 2009 | Shifty |
| "Don't Sleep" | Non-album single | |
| "Hundreds and Thousands" | 2010 | |
| "Get on It" | ||
| "All of You" | 2011 | Microscope |
| "Mogambo"[95] | 2018 | The Long Goodbye |
| "Once Kings"[96] | 2020 | Non-album single |
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Flush" | 2010 | Beautiful Losers |
| "Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)" | 2016 | The Hamilton Mixtape |
| "Stand Up" | 2019 | Ninja TED: A benefit for the Vancouver Food Bank |
| "Let the Sunshine In"(with Full Ninja TED cast) | ||
| "Promises" | 2022 | Give Me the Future |
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