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Riz Ahmed

Riz Ahmed

Acting1982Wembley, London, England, UK

Biography

Rizwan "Riz" Ahmed (Urdu pronunciation: [ɾɪzˌwɑːnˈɛɦˌməd̪]; born 1 December 1982) is a British actor and rapper. He has received several awards, including an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award, with nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and two British Academy Film Awards. In 2017, he was named in the Time Listing of the most influential people in the world.

After studying acting at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Ahmed began his acting career with independent films such as The Road to Guantanamo (2006), Shifty (2008), Four Lions (2010), Trishna (2011), and The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012). He had his break-out role in Nightcrawler (2014), which led to roles in the 2016 big-budget films Jason Bourne and Rogue One. For starring as a young man accused of murder in the HBO miniseries The Night Of (2016), Ahmed won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series. He received another Emmy nomination in the same year for his guest role in Girls. He went on to play Carlton Drake in the superhero film Venom (2018) and a drummer who loses his hearing in the drama film Sound of Metal (2019). The latter earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He produced, co-wrote, and starred in Mogul Mowgli (2020), which earned a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film.

As a rapper, Ahmed is a member of the Swet Shop Boys and has earned critical acclaim with the hip hop albums Microscope and Cashmere and 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. His second studio album, The Long Goodbye, was accompanied by a short film of the same name, which won him the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.

As an activist, Ahmed is known for his political rap music, has been involved in raising awareness and funds for Rohingya and Syrian refugee children, and has advocated 'BAME' representation at the House of Commons.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Riz Ahmed, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting History

2026
2025
The Phoenician Scheme
as Prince Farouk
Relay
as Ash
2024
2023
Nimona
as Ballister Boldheart (voice)
Mustache
Executive Producer
2022
You Resemble Me
Executive Producer
Joyland
Executive Producer
2021
Encounter
as Malik Khan
The Oscars
TVas Self4 eps
Flee
Executive Producer
2020
2018
The Sisters Brothers
as Hermann Kermit Warm
Venom
as Carlton Drake / Riot
2016
City of Tiny Lights
as Tommy Akhtar
Jason Bourne
as Aaron Kalloor
The Jonathan Ross Show
TVas Self2 eps
Off Camera with Sam Jones
TVas Self1 eps
The Night Of
TVas Nasir 'Naz' Khan8 eps
The OA
TVas Elias Rahim5 eps
2012
Ill Manors
as Aaron
2011
Trishna
as Jay
2010
Centurion
as Tarak
Four Lions
as Omar
2008
Shifty
as Shifty
Dead Set
TVas Riq Rahman
Baghdad Express
Original Music Composer
2007
Britz
as Sohail Wahid
2003
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
TVas Self - Musical Guest
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
TVas Self / Self - Guest
1998
Comedy Lab
TVCreator
1996

Social Media

Personal Info

Known For
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
12/1/1982(43 years old)
Place of Birth
Wembley, London, England, UK
Riz Ahmed - Acting | MaTAb