Riz Ahmed

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

Venom Not in library

Venom

2018

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Not in library

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

2016

Nightcrawler Not in library

Nightcrawler

2014

Jason Bourne Not in library

Jason Bourne

2016

Sound of Metal Not in library

Sound of Metal

2020

The Sisters Brothers Not in library

The Sisters Brothers

2018

Centurion Not in library

Centurion

2010

Nimona Not in library

Nimona

2023

The OA Not in library

The OA

2016

The Night Of Not in library

The Night Of

2016

Acting

2026 Digger
2026 Hamlet as Hamlet
2026 The Name of Action as Self
2026 Bait as Shah Latif (6 episodes) In Library
2026 Saturday Night Live UK as Self - Host (1 episode)
2025 Relay as Ash
2025 The Phoenician Scheme as Prince Farouk
2025 Together for Palestine as Self
2023 Dammi as Mounir
2023 Nimona as Ballister Boldheart (voice)
2023 Fingernails as Amir
2021 The Long Goodbye as Riz
2021 Encounter as Malik Khan
2021 Lines
2020 Sound of Metal as Ruben Stone
2020 Mogul Mowgli as Zed
2019 The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan as Self (1 episode)
2018 The Sisters Brothers as Hermann Kermit Warm
2018 Venom as Carlton Drake / Riot
2018 The Big Narstie Show as Self (1 episode)
2017 Una as Scott
2017 The Stories: The Making of 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' as Self
2016 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as Bodhi Rook
2016 Jason Bourne as Aaron Kalloor
2016 City of Tiny Lights as Tommy Akhtar
2016 The Night Of as Nasir 'Naz' Khan (8 episodes)
2016 The OA as Elias Rahim (5 episodes)
2015 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self - Guest (2 episodes)
2015 The Late Late Show with James Corden as Self (3 episodes)
2015 Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter as Self (1 episode)
2014 Nightcrawler as Rick
2014 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as Self (3 episodes)
2014 Variety Studio: Actors on Actors as Self (2 episodes)
2014 Off Camera with Sam Jones as Self (1 episode)
2013 Out of Darkness as Male
2013 Closed Circuit as Nazrul Sharma
2013 The Reluctant Fundamentalist as Changez
2012 Ill Manors as Aaron
2012 Girls as Paul-Louis (2 episodes)
2011 Trishna as Jay
2011 Black Gold as Ali
2011 The Jonathan Ross Show as Self (3 episodes)
2010 Centurion as Tarak
2010 Four Lions as Omar
2009 Rage as Vijay
2009 Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam
2009 Freefall as Gary
2009 10 Minute Tales as Joseph (1 episode)
2008 Shifty as Shifty
2008 Baghdad Express as Talal
2008 Dead Set as Riq Rahman (5 episodes)
2008 Wired as Manesh Kunzru (3 episodes)
2007 Britz as Sohail Wahid
2007 Britz as Sohail (2 episodes)
2007 The Graham Norton Show as Self (1 episode)
2006 The Road to Guantanamo as Shafiq
2006 Banglatown Banquet as Razual
2006 The Play's the Thing
2006 The Path to 9/11 as Yosri (2 episodes)
2003 The Ellen DeGeneres Show as Self - Musical Guest (1 episode)
2003 Jimmy Kimmel Live! as Self (2 episodes)
2003 Jimmy Kimmel Live! as Self - Guest (3 episodes)
1996 The Daily Show as Self (1 episode)
1988 LIVE with Kelly and Mark as Self (2 episodes)
1953 The Oscars as Self (4 episodes)
Exit West as Saeed
Violent Talent
Growth
The Big Fix

Directing

2014 Daytimer Director

Writing

2026 Bait Writer In Library
2021 The Long Goodbye Writer
2020 Mogul Mowgli Story
2020 Mogul Mowgli Writer
2014 Daytimer Writer

Production

2026 Hamlet Producer
2026 Bait Executive Producer In Library
2024 Defiance: Fighting the Far Right Executive Producer
2023 Mustache Executive Producer
2022 You Resemble Me Executive Producer
2022 Moshari Executive Producer
2022 Joyland Executive Producer
2021 Flee Executive Producer
2020 Sound of Metal Executive Producer
2020 Mogul Mowgli Producer
Exit West Executive Producer

Sound

2008 Baghdad Express Original Music Composer

Crew

2021 The Long Goodbye Creator

Creator

2026 Bait Creator In Library