
Riz Ahmed
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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Known For
Acting History
2026
Judy
2025Hamlet as Hamlet
2025Relay as Ash
2025The Phoenician Scheme as Prince Farouk
2023Fingernails as Amir
2023Dammi as Mounir
2023Nimona as Ballister Boldheart (voice)
2021Encounter as Malik Khan
2021Lines
2020Sound of Metal as Ruben Stone
2020Mogul Mowgli as Zed
2020The Long Goodbye as Riz
2019The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan as Self
2018Venom as Carlton Drake / Riot
2018The Sisters Brothers as Hermann Kermit Warm
2018The Big Narstie Show as Self
2017The Stories: The Making of 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' as Self
2017Una as Scott
2016The OA as Elias Rahim
2016Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as Bodhi Rook
2016City of Tiny Lights as Tommy Akhtar
2016Jason Bourne as Aaron Kalloor
2016The Night Of as Nasir 'Naz' Khan
2015The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self
2015Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter as Self
2015The Late Late Show with James Corden as Self
2014Variety Studio: Actors on Actors as Self
2014Nightcrawler as Rick
2014The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as Self
2014Off Camera with Sam Jones as Self
2013Out of Darkness as Male
2013Closed Circuit as Nazrul Sharma
2013The Reluctant Fundamentalist as Changez
2012Ill Manors as Aaron
2012Girls as Paul-Louis
2011Black Gold as Ali
2011Trishna as Jay
2011The Jonathan Ross Show as Self
2010Four Lions as Omar
2010Centurion as Tarak
200910 Minute Tales as Joseph
2009Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam
2009Rage as Vijay
2009Freefall as Gary
2008Dead Set as Riq Rahman
2008Baghdad Express as Talal
2008Shifty as Shifty
2008Wired as Manesh Kunzru
2007Britz as Sohail Wahid
2007Britz as Sohail
2007The Graham Norton Show as Self
2006The Path to 9/11 as Yosri
2006The Play's the Thing
2006Banglatown Banquet as Razual
2006The Road to Guantanamo as Shafiq
2003The Ellen DeGeneres Show as Self
2003Jimmy Kimmel Live! as Self
1996The Daily Show as Self
1988LIVE with Kelly and Mark as Self
1953The Oscars as Self
—Violent Talent
—Bait as Shah Latif
—Exit West as Saeed









