Riz Ahmed

Acting

Riz Ahmed

Born December 1, 1982Wembley, London, England, UK75 credits

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.

Known For

Filmography

Bait
2026Bait
as Shah LatifTV
Hamlet
2026Hamlet
as HamletMovie
Relay
2025Relay
as AshMovie
The Phoenician Scheme
2025The Phoenician Scheme
as Prince FaroukMovie
Fingernails
2023Fingernails
as AmirMovie
Dammi
2023Dammi
as MounirMovie
Nimona
2023Nimona
as Ballister Boldheart (voice)Movie
Mustache
2023Mustache
Executive ProducerMovie
Joyland
2022Joyland
Executive ProducerMovie
You Resemble Me
2022You Resemble Me
Executive ProducerMovie
Moshari
2022Moshari
Executive ProducerMovie
Encounter
2021Encounter
as Malik KhanMovie
Flee
2021Flee
Executive ProducerMovie
Sound of Metal
2020Sound of Metal
as Ruben StoneMovie
Mogul Mowgli
2020Mogul Mowgli
as ZedMovie
Venom
2018Venom
as Carlton Drake / RiotMovie
The Sisters Brothers
2018The Sisters Brothers
as Hermann Kermit WarmMovie
Una
2017Una
as ScottMovie
The OA
2016The OA
as Elias RahimTV
City of Tiny Lights
2016City of Tiny Lights
as Tommy AkhtarMovie
Jason Bourne
2016Jason Bourne
as Aaron KalloorMovie
The Night Of
2016The Night Of
as Nasir 'Naz' KhanTV
Nightcrawler
2014Nightcrawler
as RickMovie
D
2014Daytimer
DirectorMovie
Closed Circuit
2013Closed Circuit
as Nazrul SharmaMovie
Ill Manors
2012Ill Manors
as AaronMovie
Girls
2012Girls
as Paul-LouisTV
Black Gold
2011Black Gold
as AliMovie
Trishna
2011Trishna
as JayMovie
Four Lions
2010Four Lions
as OmarMovie
Centurion
2010Centurion
as TarakMovie
Rage
2009Rage
as VijayMovie
Freefall
2009Freefall
as GaryMovie
Dead Set
2008Dead Set
as Riq RahmanTV
Shifty
2008Shifty
as ShiftyMovie
Wired
2008Wired
as Manesh KunzruTV
Britz
2007Britz
as Sohail WahidMovie
Britz
2007Britz
as SohailTV
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003The Ellen DeGeneres Show
as Self - Musical GuestTV
Exit West
Exit West
as SaeedMovie