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Riz Ahmed

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For other people with the same name, see Rizwan Ahmed.
Riz Ahmed
Ahmed at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival
Born
Rizwan Ahmed

(1982-12-01) 1 December 1982 (age 42)
Wembley, London, England
NationalityBritish
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford
Central School of Speech and Drama
Occupation(s)Actor
Rapper
Years active2006–present
Musical career
GenresHip hop  • Political rap  • UK rap
Years active2006–present
LabelsTru Thoughts

Riz Ahmed (born December 1, 1982), also known as by his stage name, Riz MC, is a British actor, rapper, and activist.[1] As an actor, he won an Emmy Award, out of two Emmy nominations, and was also nominated for a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award, and three British Independent Film Awards. He was initially known for his work in independent films such as The Road to Guantanamo (2006), Shifty (2008), Four Lions (2010), Trishna (2011), Ill Manors (2012), and The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2013), before his break-out role in Nightcrawler (2014). In 2016, he starred in Una, Jason Bourne, and as Bodhi Rook in the first Star Wars Anthology film, Rogue One. That year, he also starred in the HBO miniseries The Night Of as Nasir Khan; the show and his performance were critically lauded. At the 2017 Emmy Awards, he received two nominations, for his performance in The Night Of and his guest spot in Girls; he won the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for The Night Of, becoming the first Asian and first Muslim to win in the category, the first South Asian male to win an acting Emmy,[2] and the first Muslim and first South Asian to win a lead acting Emmy.[3]

As a rapper, he is a member of the Swet Shop Boys, earned critical acclaim with the hip-hop albums Microscope and Cashmere, and earned commercial success featuring in the Billboard 200 chart topping Hamilton Mixtape, with his song "Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)" winning an MTV Video Music Award. As an activist, he is known for his political rap music, has been involved in raising awareness and funds for Rohingya and Syrian refugee children, and has advocated representation at the House of Commons. In 2017, he was included on the front cover of the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.[1]

Early life

Ahmed was born in Wembley, London, in 1982, to a British Pakistani family.[4] His parents are of Muhajir background; his grandparents migrated from India to Pakistan during the 1947 partition of India.[5] His parents moved to England from Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, during the 1970s.[4] He is a descendant of Sir Shah Muhammad Sulaiman, the first Indian to become the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh during the colonial era.[6] He also composed Urdu poetry, penned some of the first critical articles on Einstein's theory of relativity,[7][8] and was related to Mulla Mahmud Jaunpuri (d. 1652), one of the most important philosopher–scientists produced in the region during the Mughal Empire.[9]

He attended Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood, through a scholarship programme. He graduated from Christ Church, Oxford University, with a degree in PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics), which he has said he found to be a bizarre experience.[10] He later studied acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama.[4]

Acting career

Stage

Ahmed played a role in the Asian Dub Foundation opera Gaddafi and a starring role as psychotic serial-killer-turned-born-again-Christian Lucius in the Lighthouse Theatre's acclaimed production of Stephen Adly Guirgis's Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train (directed by Jack William Clift and Thomas Sweatman) as well as in Shan Khan's Prayer Room.[11]

Film

Ahmed's film career began in the Michael Winterbottom film The Road to Guantanamo, in which he played the part of Shafiq Rasul, a member of the Tipton Three. He and another actor involved in the film were detained at Luton Airport upon their return from the Berlin Film Festival where the film won a Silver Bear Award.[12] In 2007, he portrayed Sohail Waheed in the Channel 4 drama, Britz. Ahmed then portrayed Riq in the five-part horror thriller Dead Set for E4 and Manesh Kunzru in ITV1's Wired in 2008. In July 2009 he appeared in Freefall alongside Sarah Harding.[4] He featured in the title role of the 2009 independent film Shifty, directed by Eran Creevy. Ahmed plays a charismatic young drug dealer in the film which sees a life in the day of this character. He was nominated for Best Actor at the 2008 British Independent Film Awards for this role, alongside Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson.[13]

Continuing his film career, he featured in the 2009 Sally Potter production of Rage and in 2010, in Chris Morris' satire on terrorism, Four Lions, for which he received his second British Independent Film Award nomination for Best Actor. Ahmed also had a supporting role in Neil Marshall's historical thriller Centurion.[11]

In 2012, he starred as one of the leading roles in the London-based film Ill Manors, directed by Plan B as Aaron. Ahmed received his third British Independent Film Award nomination for Best Actor. He assumed the lead role in Mira Nair's adaptation of the best-selling novel by Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, alongside Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland, Om Puri, Shabana Azmi, and Liev Schreiber.[14]

Ahmed directed and wrote a 2014 short film, Daytimer. It won the Best Live Action Short award at Nashville Film Festival, and was nominated for the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.[15]

In 2014, Ahmed appeared in Dan Gilroy's directorial debut film Nightcrawler where he played role of Rick, opposite Jake Gyllenhaal.[16] Ahmed received acclaim for his portrayal in the film and gained numerous awards nominations during awards season.[17][17]

In 2016, he appeared in Rogue One, the first film in the new Star Wars anthology films as Bodhi Rook, a defected imperial pilot.[18]

Television

In 2016, Ahmed played the role of Nasir "Naz" Khan in the HBO miniseries The Night Of,[19] and once again received universal praise for his performance, earning him Emmy,[20] Golden Globe[21] and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.[22] He also appeared in the final season of Girls, earning him another Emmy nomination.[23]

At the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards, Ahmed won the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his performance in The Night Of,[2][24] winning over Robert De Niro, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ewan McGregor, Geoffrey Rush and co-star John Turturro.[2] This made Ahmed the first Asian and first Muslim to win in the category, the first South Asian male to win an acting Emmy,[2] and the first Muslim and first South Asian to win a lead acting Emmy; the only previous South Asian to win an acting Emmy was British Asian actress Archie Panjabi for a supporting role in 2010.[3][25]

Music career

Ahmed performing at Occupy London NYE Party 2011.

Inspired by jungle and hip hop music, his music career began in his mid-teens, appearing on pirate radio and in freestyle rap battles.[26] While at university, Ahmed co-founded the Hit & Run night in Oxford, which has since moved to Manchester. Hit & Run has gone on to become one of Manchester's leading underground music events.[27] At Oxford, he was also part of a 12-person jazz-house/electronica band called Confidential Collective.[26]

After graduating, he competed in and won many rap battle competitions.[26] 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,[28] 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.[29]

In 2006, Ahmed recorded a satirical social-commentary rap track entitled "Post 9/11 Blues", which was leaked by friends and first gained popularity through the internet.[26] The song was initially banned from British airplay because the lyrics were deemed "politically sensitive", including satirical references to 9/11, terrorism, the post-9/11 climate, Iraq War, death of Jean Charles de Menezes, MI6, and Belmarsh prison.[30] The resulting press coverage, however, prompted some independent radio stations to play the track. He soon founded his own independent record label, Battered Records, officially releasing "Post 9/11 Blues" for the CD and MP3 formats in August 2006. He went on to win Best MC at the 2006 Asian Music Awards. He released his second single in 2007, the garage rap song "People Like People".[26]

He was selected as a BBC Introducing artist in 2007, playing the Glastonbury Festival and the BBC Electric Proms. He opened the Meltdown Festival with Bristol-based trip-hop group Massive Attack at the Royal Festival Hall in 2008, and was appointed 'Emerging Artist in Residence' at the Southbank Centre in London. He played at the London Camp for Climate Action in August 2009.[11]

In 2011, he released his debut album, Microscope, which was re-released with additional remixes in 2012.[31] On 1 December 2011, it was announced that Riz MC had signed to Tru Thoughts, an independent label in Brighton.[32] From Microscope, he released "Sour Times" which was accompanied by a video featuring Scroobius Pip, Plan B, Tom Hardy,[33] and Jim Sturgess.[27]

In 2016, he released the nine-track mixtape, Englistan.[34]

Collaborations

Main articles: Swet Shop Boys and Immigrants (We Get The Job Done)

Ahmed is half of the hip hop duo Swet Shop Boys along with Heems.[35] Their debut release, Swet Shop EP, was released in 2014.[36] The group's debut full-length effort, Cashmere, was released on 14 October 2016,[37] and received critical acclaim.[38]

He was featured in the song "Immigrants (We Get The Job Done)" in The Hamilton Mixtape, which topped the Billboard 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 (with Rogue One) at the same time.[39] At the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), "Immigrants" won the award for Best Fight Against the System,[40] giving him the rare distinction of winning both the Emmy and VMA awards.[41]

Personal life

Ahmed is a Muslim.[4] He has spoken candidly about Islamophobia, both in a personal and societal context.[42][43] As an activist, he has been involved in raising funds for Syrian refugee children and advocating representation at the House of Commons.[1] He has also been involved in raising awareness of the displacement of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, and raising funds for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.[44]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2006 The Road to Guantanamo Shafiq
2008 Shifty Shifty
2008 Baghdad Express Talal Short film
2009 Rage Vijay
2010 Four Lions Omar
2010 Centurion Tarak
2011 Black Gold Ali
2011 Trishna Jay
2012 Ill Manors Aaron
2012 The Reluctant Fundamentalist Changez Khan
2013 Closed Circuit Nazrul Sharma
2013 Out of Darkness Male Short film
2014 Daytimer Director, writer[15] Short film[15]
2014 Nightcrawler Rick
2016 Jason Bourne Aaron Kalloor
2016 Una Scott
2016 City of Tiny Lights Tommy Akhtar
2016 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Bodhi Rook
2018 The Sisters Brothers Morris Post-production
2018 Venom Carlton Drake Post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2006 The Path to 9/11 Yosri 2 episodes
2006 Berry's Way Amir Television film
2007 Britz Sohail Wahid 2 episodes
2008 Wired Manesh Kunzru 3 episodes
2008 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 The OA Elias Rahim 4 episodes
2017 Girls Paul-Louis 2 episodes

Discography

See also: Swet Shop Boys discography

Albums

Mixtapes

  • Englistan (2016)

Singles

  • "The Post 9/11 Blues" (2006)
  • "People Like People" (2007)
  • "Radar" (2008)
  • "Shifty" (with Sway & Plan B) (2009)
  • "Don't Sleep" (2009)
  • "Hundreds and Thousands" (2010)
  • "Get on It" (2010)
  • "All of You" (2011)

Compilation appearances

Awards and nominations

List of awards and nominations.
Organization Year[a] Work(s) Category Result Ref.
Berlin International Film Festival 2012 Ill Manors Shooting Star Award – Actor Won
[15]
British Independent Film Awards 2008 Shifty Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film Nominated
2010 Four Lions Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film Nominated
2012 Ill Manors Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film Nominated
British Urban Film Festival 2018 City of Tiny Lights Best Actor Pending
[45]
Dorian Awards 2017 The Night Of TV Performance of the Year - Actor Nominated
[15]
Empire Awards 2017 Rogue One Best Male Newcomer Nominated
[46]
Evening Standard British Film Awards 2010 Four Lions Best Actor Nominated
[15]
Geneva International Film Festival 2008 Shifty Best Actor Won
Georgia Film Critics Association 2014 Nightcrawler Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Gold Derby Awards 2017 The Night Of Best Miniseries/TV Movie Actor Won
[47]
2017 The Night Of Best Performer of the Year Nominated
2017 Girls Best Comedy Guest Actor Nominated
Golden Globe Awards 2017 The Night Of Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film Nominated
[15]
Gotham Awards 2014 Nightcrawler Breakthrough Actor Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards 2014 Nightcrawler Best Supporting Male Nominated
IndieWire Critics Poll 2014 Nightcrawler Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Kids' Choice Awards 2017 Rogue One #Squad Nominated
[48]
London Film Critics' Circle 2010 Four Lions British Actor of the Year Nominated
[15]
2014 Nightcrawler Supporting Actor of the Year Nominated
MTV Movie & TV Awards 2017 Rogue One Next Generation Nominated
[49]
MTV Video Music Awards 2017 "Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)" Best Fight Against the System Won
[40]
Nashville Film Festival 2014 Daytimer Best Live Action Short Won
[15]
Online Film & Television Association 2014 Nightcrawler Best Breakthrough Performance – Male Nominated
2014 Nightcrawler Best Supporting Actor Nominated
2017 The Night Of Best Actor in a Motion Picture or Limited Series Won
2017 Girls Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series Won
Primetime Emmy Awards 2017 The Night Of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Won
[2]
2017 Girls Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated
[23]
San Diego Film Critics Society 2014 Nightcrawler Best Supporting Actor Nominated
[15]
Screen Actors Guild Award 2017 The Night Of Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Movie Nominated
Sundance Film Festival 2014 Daytimer Short Film Grand Jury Prize Nominated
UK Asian Music Awards 2006 "Post 9/11 Blues" Best MC Won
[26]
Village Voice Film Poll 2014 Nightcrawler Best Supporting Actor Nominated
[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Riz Ahmed: The World's 100 Most Influential People". Time. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e Vincent, Alice (18 September 2017). "Riz Ahmed makes history as the first Muslim man to win an acting Emmy". The Telegraph. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  3. ^ a b Ali, Lorraine (19 September 2017). "Two Muslims walk into the Emmys..." – via LA Times.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Riz Ahmed: 'You don't need to tell me we live in scary times. I'm Muslim'". The Guardian. 23 July 2016.
  5. ^ Ahmed, Riz (23 June 2016). "Grandparents migrated from India to Pakistan in partition, parents came to UK in 70s". Twitter.
  6. ^ "London meets Lahore". India Today. 1 May 2017.
  7. ^ Robert S. Anderson, Nucleus and Nation: Scientists, International Networks, and Power in India, University of Chicago Press (2010), p. 71
  8. ^ KARACHI: Sir Sulaiman’s research papers Dawn News, 14 March 2005
  9. ^ Karimullah, A. R. Ghani, Biographical Notes on Eminent Muslim Scientists of South-Asia in the 14th Century Hijra: 1877-1979 A.D, Pakistan Science Foundation and Pakistan Academy of Sciences (1989), p. 5
  10. ^ "Skin Deep meets Riz Ahmed".
  11. ^ a b c "Riz Ahmed Trivia: 33 interesting facts about the actor! — Useless Daily: The amazing facts, news & trivia free newsletter!". www.uselessdaily.com. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  12. ^ "Guantanamo duo 'held' at airport". BBC News. 21 February 2006.
  13. ^ "Winners 2008". BIFA. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  14. ^ Debesh Bannerjee (8 December 2009). "'Politeness can kill you in movies'". Screen. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Riz Ahmed at IMDb
  16. ^ Black, Claire (2 November 2014). "Riz Ahmed winning rave reviews for new film role". The Scotsman. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  17. ^ a b Pond, Steve; Travis, Reilly (1 December 2014). "Gotham Awards 2014: Complete Winners List". TheWrap. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  18. ^ Levine, Nick (20 December 2016). "Riz Ahmed reveals how his 'Rogue One' character changed during shooting". NME. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  19. ^ Birnbaum, Debra (29 August 2016). "Riz Ahmed on the 'Devastating' Finale of HBO's 'The Night Of' (Spoilers)". Variety. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  20. ^ Berg, Madeline. "2017 Emmy Nominations: The Full List".
  21. ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (12 December 2016). "Golden Globes: People v. O.J. Simpson, Night Manager, This Is Us, Westworld, The Crown, black-ish Lead TV Nominees". TVLine. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  22. ^ "SAG winners list: Who won what". CNN. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  23. ^ a b Fair, Vanity. "2017 Emmy Nominations Announced: See the Full List".
  24. ^ "Riz Ahmed becomes first Asian man to win an acting Emmy Award".
  25. ^ Primeau, Jamie. "Riz Ahmed Is The First Muslim & South-Asian Emmy-Winning Actor Ever".
  26. ^ a b c d e f "Riz MC on Apple Music". itunes.apple.com.
  27. ^ a b "Riz Ahmed: Extraordinary double life of a bright British talent". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  28. ^ "JumpOff.TV". jumpoff.tv.
  29. ^ "STM06 - Riz vs Whashisface".
  30. ^ O'Keefe, Alice (9 April 2006). "Rapper asks BBC to play 9/11 song". The Guardian.
  31. ^ "Microscope by Riz MC". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  32. ^ "Quantic presents The Western Transient A New Constellation | News". Tru Thoughts. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  33. ^ "Riz MC - Sour Times". YouTube. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  34. ^ Lee, Chris (13 December 2016). "'Rogue One' Is the Cherry on Top of a Wild Year for Riz Ahmed". Complex. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  35. ^ Holub, Christian (7 September 2016). "The Night Of star Riz Ahmed drops a new song with Heems, Zayn Malik". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  36. ^ Sacher, Andrew (5 December 2014). "Swet Shop Boys (Heems + Riz MC) released an EP, playing Baby's w/ Wiki; Ratking playing Brooklyn Night Bazaar". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  37. ^ Nordine, Michael (9 October 2016). "'The Night Of' Star Riz Ahmed Releases New Album 'Cashmere' With Heems — Listen". IndieWire. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  38. ^ "Cashmere by Swet Shop Boys". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  39. ^ "Rogue One star Riz Ahmed shares childhood Star Wars drawings: 'Keep your inner child alive'". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  40. ^ a b "MTV VMA 2017: See the Complete Winners List". 28 August 2017.
  41. ^ Montgomery, Daniel (4 August 2017). "Riz Ahmed may 'Get the Job Done' at both the Emmys and MTV Video Music Awards this year [WATCH]".
  42. ^ Ahmed, Riz (15 September 2016). "Typecast as a terrorist". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  43. ^ Trendell, Andrew (19 June 2017). "Riz Ahmed hits out at portrayal of Muslims and acts of terror in the media". NME. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  44. ^ "DEC Emergency Appeal for People Fleeing Myanmar - Riz Ahmed ITV". YouTube. Disasters Emergency Committee. 4 October 2017.
  45. ^ "2018 British Urban Film Festival unveils line-up, hosts and awards". Screen. 8 March 2018.
  46. ^ Nugent, John (19 March 2017). "Three Empire Awards 2017: Rogue One, Tom Hiddleston And Patrick Stewart Win Big". Empire. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  47. ^ Montgomery, Daniel (26 July 2017). "2017 Gold Derby TV Awards nominations: 'This is Us,' 'Veep,' 'The Leftovers,' 'Stranger Things' among top contenders". GoldDerby. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  48. ^ "NICKELODEON ANNOUNCES 2017 KIDS' CHOICE AWARDS NOMINATIONS | Nick Press". NickPress. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  49. ^ Schwartz, Ryan (2 March 2017). "2017 MTV Movie & TV Awards Nominations List — 'This Is Us,' 'Stranger Things'". TVLine. Archived from the original on 7 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  1. ^ Year in which awards ceremony was held.

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