Riz Ahmed

Riz Ahmed

Born 1982-12-01 (age 43) Wembley, London, England, UK
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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.

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Photos

Known For

Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler

2014

as Rick

Venom
Venom

2018

as Carlton Drake / Riot

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Jason Bourne
Jason Bourne

2016

as Aaron Kalloor

The Phoenician Scheme
The Phoenician Scheme

2025

as Prince Farouk

Nimona
Nimona

2023

as Ballister Boldheart (voice)

Relay
Relay

2025

as Ash

Digger
Centurion
Centurion

2010

as Tarak

Sound of Metal
Sound of Metal

2020

as Ruben Stone

Black Gold
Black Gold

2011

as Ali

Hamlet
Hamlet

2026

as Hamlet

The Sisters Brothers
The Sisters Brothers

2018

as Hermann Kermit Warm

Closed Circuit
Closed Circuit

2013

as Nazrul Sharma

Four Lions
Four Lions

2010

as Omar

The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Encounter
Encounter

2021

as Malik Khan

Trishna
Trishna

2011

as Jay

Rage
Rage

2009

as Vijay

Fingernails
Fingernails

2023

as Amir