| Biography | Riz Ahmed is a British-Pakistani actor and rapper. He was initially known for his work in independent films such as The Road to Guantánamo (2006), Shifty (2008), Four Lions (2010), Trishna (2011), Ill Manors (2012), and The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2013), as well as television series such as Britz (2007) and Dead Set (2008), before his breakout role in the film Nightcrawler (2014). In 2016, he appeared in the action film Jason Bourne, and played Bodhi Rook in the Star Wars Anthology film Rogue One.
In 2016, he appeared in the action film Jason Bourne, and played Bodhi Rook in the Star Wars Anthology film Rogue One. He also starred as a young man accused of murder in the HBO miniseries The Night Of, earning critical acclaim. At the 2017 Emmy Awards, he received two nominations, for his performance in The Night Of and his guest role in Girls; he won the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for the former, becoming the first Asian male to win an acting Emmy, and the first Muslim and first Asian to win a lead acting Emmy. He went on to play Carlton Drake and voice Riot in the film Venom (2018), and Ruben Stone in Sound of Metal (2020), the latter of which earned him widespread critical acclaim.
As a musician he was formerly known by his stage name Riz MC, he was a member of the Swet Shop Boys, earned critical acclaim with the hip-hop albums Microscope and Cashmere, and earned commercial success with the U.S. Billboard 200-topping Hamilton Mixtape, with his song "Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)" winning an MTV Video Music Award. |