It looks like 2019 is Riz Ahmed’s year - after starring in the breakthrough The Night Of years ago. While that series almost didn’t happen, since it did, Riz Ahmed is on everybody’s list, either as an actor, or a writer or musician. He is penning a series for BBC Studios called Englistan.
“It’s a saga about a British Pakistani family over 40 of the most eventful years of recent British history, from 1979 to 2019,” Ahmed said about the drama. “It’s about a lot of things and ideas that are highly resonant and provocative right now. It’s about identity, hope, belonging, and universal themes like family and looking for love.”
Meanwhile he starred with Tom Hardy in the high profile Venom earlier this year and won critics and fans at film festivals with Sound of Metal in which he essays a drummer. He recently stopped by Toronto International Film Festival and knowing Riz’s ability to perform, the applause he generated was probably worth it.
To add to the list, Riz Ahmed, also known as Riz MC (a member of Swet Shop Boys with Heems) has made GQ’s 50 most stylish men list.
Noted GQ: Riz MC (as he’s known) is a VMA award-winning rapper; and when he’s not busy holding exhibitions of his artwork, running Off-White or working as artistic director for Louis Vuitton... The man never sleeps.”
Said Riz Ahmed, “I think if there’s one thing we can do with our music, it’s to defy the categories that people try to associate with us and just keep mixing it up.” Set to star in Hamlet next, Riz really is going places and we couldn’t be more elated.