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    Riz Ahmed Comes Close to Quitting Acting Years Before Securing Oscar Nomination

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    WENN/Lia Toby

    Having become the first Muslim to land the Lead Actor nod, the ‘Sound of Metal’ star recalls the time he was so broke he couldn’t afford a plane ticket to an audition for ‘Nightcrawler’ in Los Angeles.

    Mar 22, 2021

    AceShowbiz –
    Oscar nominee Riz Ahmed was so broke before shooting his breakthrough role in 2014 film “Nightcrawler”, he almost quit the project. The “Sound of Metal” star couldn’t afford a plane ticket to an audition in Los Angeles and started seriously reconsidering his acting dreams.

    “They [casting directors] asked me to fly to L.A. and I was like, ‘I can’t fly to L.A. I’m broke,’ ” he tells The Mirror. “But I had to fly to L.A. and just bet on myself. I spent that whole flight just running lines. I remember landing and seeing Jake Gyllenhaal in the room and going, ‘Whoa!’ ”

    “It came when I thought I’d reached the end of the road. I wasn’t really making any money, being offered that next tier of roles,” he adds. “I just felt like earning a couple of grand for a movie? I can’t live like this. I’m not going to be able to move forward or start a family.”

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    His gamble paid off – last week, Riz became the first Muslim nominated for a Lead Actor Oscar for his role in the “Sound of Metal” as Ruben Stone, a drummer losing his hearing.

    After making Oscars history on Monday, March 15, Ahmed wrote in an Instagram post, “Wow! I’m honored to be nominated by my fellow actors alongside such inspiring performances, and am grateful to the Academy for their support and encouragement.”

    Speaking about the role itself, Ahmed admits to The Mirror, “I spent that period playing the drums every day and learning American sign Language every day. It was immersive. It was challenging. It was daunting. But it was a tremendous privilege, you know? I feel like it opened me up in new ways.”

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      Riz Ahmed Feels Blessed to Be First Muslim Nominated for Best Actor at 2021 Oscars

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      WENN

      The ‘Sound of Metal’ actor is overjoyed after he was announced as one of the contenders for the prestigious Best Actor title at the upcoming 93rd annual Academy Awards.

      Mar 16, 2021
      AceShowbiz – British star Riz Ahmed has made Oscars history as the first Muslim and first person of Pakistani descent to be recognised in the Best Actor category for his role in “Sound of Metal”.
      The first-time nominee is humbled by the honour, and is proud to represent people of colour on Hollywood’s big night.
      Ahmed, who hails from Wembley, just outside of London, tells Deadline, “If there’s a way in which people can find themselves in this moment, and can feel inspired and connected on a deeper level, I’m all for it.”
      “Whether they see me as the first British Pakistani, or the first guy from Wembley, you know, there’s so many ways to view it. But as long as it feels like an opportunity for more people than ever before to really connect and feel included in this moment, that’s a blessing.”
      He is part of the most diverse group of acting nominees to ever be celebrated by officials at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, with nine actors of colour in the running for top prizes this year (21), and Ahmed is thrilled to see so many different kinds of stories being accepted into mainstream culture and awarded with nods.
      “It’s why we do it, to stretch our hearts and stretch our minds, and in the process stretch culture,” he reflected of the diverse Oscars field.

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      “We should stretch culture so that it’s big enough and wide enough and expansive enough so that there’s space for all of us to find ourselves in it, to feel that we belong and that we’re included, and that we matter.”
      “These changes aren’t just something that’s good politically or socially. It’s something which allows stories and storytelling to get back to its original intention, which is to embrace all of us.”
      And Ahmed is particularly pleased to be nominated for filmmaker Darius Marder’s “Sound of Metal”, in which he plays a drummer who has to adjust to a new way of life after losing his hearing.
      “It feels like a privilege to be part of this team,” he smiled. “It was a special project where everyone got together, there were no egos, and it was all about us pulling toward this larger vision.”
      “We made the film unsure whether anyone would see it, really, so for us to come out with six nominations is just the most beautiful feeling. For Darius, who spent 13 years trying to get this film made; for (co-star and Best Supporting Actor nominee) Paul Raci, who spent 35 years sitting on this tremendous talent and perhaps not being given the platform to really express it; and for the entire team. I know it’s a cliche but it was truly a labour of love.”
      In addition to Ahmed’s groundbreaking nomination, “Minari” star Steven Yeun became the first Asian-American ever to be shortlisted for Best Actor while his co-star Yuh-Jung Youn was hailed as the first Korean person to land an acting Oscar nod, and “Nomadland” filmmaker Chloe Zhao made further history as the first woman of colour to be recognised in the Best Director category.
      The winners will be revealed when the 93rd Academy Awards take place in Los Angeles on 25 April.

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      Riz Ahmed Claims 'Sound of Metal' Changes the Way He Looks at Life

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      Amazon Studios

      Calling the making of the movie ‘the most challenging, the most immersive, the most intense experience’ of his life, the actor says that it also make him a better listener.

      Mar 8, 2021
      AceShowbiz – Riz Ahmed doesn’t need the accolades and awards to prove his new film, “Sound of Metal”, is a hit – he knew he was part of something special while he was making the film.
      The actor, who plays a drummer battling the loss of his hearing in the movie, is an early Oscars favorite for Best Actor but his reward for making the film came as he wrapped the project.
      “This film was really the most challenging, the most immersive, the most intense experience of my life and the day we finished I told our director, Darius, if no one sees this film I’m still happy, because it just kind of changed me; it changed all of us…,” Riz tells “Good Morning America”. “It was a labor of love.”
      “It kinda changed the way I look at life, spending so much time with the deaf community, learning [to play] the drums, it opened me up in new ways.”

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      “The fact that people are seeing it, let alone responding to it like this, is just the most mind-blowing bonus.”

      And the film made him a better listener, even though he was playing a deaf person.
      “My sign instructor… and the whole deaf community that he introduced me to in New York, I kind of think that they’re the best listeners I’ve ever met, because listening isn’t something you just do with your ears; it’s something you do with your whole body…”
      “On the film set, I was using audio blockers at times for when my character starts to lose his hearing – just to simulate that experience – and it made me listen with my body… The deaf community taught me the true meaning of listening, the true meaning of communication.”

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      Riz Ahmed Likens Classism at Oxford University to That of British Film Industry

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      The ‘Sound of Metal’ star admits his experience as a student at the prestigious university taught him to be comfortable with the discomfort of experiencing the imposter syndrome.

      Jan 13, 2021
      AceShowbiz – The classism “Sound of Metal” star Riz Ahmed experienced as a student at Oxford University in England prepared him for life as an actor.
      The Oscars favourite admits he has the same discomfort on movie sets as he did when he was studying among the elite at Oxford, revealing it was a culture shock when he first arrived.
      “I still sometimes find myself confronted with that discomfort,” he told the BBC’s “Grounded With Louis Theroux” podcast. “You know, that sense of imposter syndrome if you’re not to the manor born.”
      “My parents were just very focused on education. Rather than going on holidays or anything like that we (would) try and get a tutor in to get us ready for the entrance exams, try to work out how to get us into private schools which were, in many ways, like a culture shock to begin with, just like Oxford was.”
      He added, “In most rooms, where decisions are made, it’s about being able to be conversant in that upper middle class English, and I don’t just mean in terms of how you talk, but just being comfortable in those spaces, which took me a long time.”

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      “The film industry in the U.K., I think, is rife with the same kind of classism and it was a weird experience.”

      Riz is glad he didn’t quit his studies at Oxford even though he felt “very isolated and alienated from the whole vibe there.”
      “Then I thought, ‘Actually, the place where you don’t feel like you belong is maybe where you belong, is where you should be, is maybe where you can contribute something new, where you can grow’,” he added.
      “We have to learn to be comfortable with the discomfort of that. And I ended up having a great experience, where I did a lot of acting in the plays there, and I put on a club night that helped pay my way through that… It’s usually the way that the challenges are the gifts.”

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      Riz Ahmed Credits His Role as Deaf Drummer for Making Him Appreciate Sound of Silence

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      WENN

      The ‘Nightcrawler’ actor enjoys the sound of silence more after playing a drummer who begins to lose his hearing in a new movie called ‘Sound of Metal’.

      Jan 2, 2021
      AceShowbiz – Riz Ahmed is learning to appreciate silence in his life after playing a deaf drummer in his new Amazon film, “Sound of Metal”.
      The actor grew up in a very noisy household and admits he has often found himself running away from quiet moments because he needed sound in his life.
      But after facing his fears for the new project, Riz admits he’s now looking forward to a more quiet life.
      “Growing up in a noisy household with a lot of people in a small house, silence was just not part of my life,” he says. “I think I’m someone who kind of runs away from silence. Actually making this film made me realise that and allowing that (silence) into my life a little more.”

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      Ahmed was fitted with inverted hearing aids, which emitted white noise, for his latest role, adding, “They would block out all noise to an extent where I couldn’t hear myself.”
      And he studied deaf people to perfect the role, adding, “I did learn that dinner time with a deaf family is very loud if you’re a hearing person because of people banging on tables to get attention for that vibrational communication across the dinner table.”
      “I hope this film opens people’s eyes to some beautiful aspects of deaf culture.”
      “Sound of Metal” also stars the likes of Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff, and Mathieu Amalric. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year before heading to Amazon streaming service.

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      Riz Ahmed Describes Rapping as Form of His 'Therapy'

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      Instagram

      During an appearance on ‘The Graham Norton Show’, the British-Pakistani actor explains how his new movie ‘Mogul Mowgli’ becomes an extension of his love for music.
      Oct 3, 2020
      AceShowbiz – Riz Ahmed turns to rap as a form of “therapy”.
      The British-Pakistani actor appears on Britain’s “The Graham Norton Show” on Friday night (October 2) and discusses his love of rap.
      In addition to his celebrated career onscreen, he’s also released two albums – 2011’s “Microscope” and “The Long Goodbye”, which dropped earlier this year.

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      “It is a big part of who I am,” says the 37-year-old star. “It’s my therapy and the film is an extension of that. Music is my career but it is something I need to do.”
      Ahmed was on the show to promote his movie “Mogul Mowgli”, co-written by, produced by and starring the actor. It follows the story of British Pakistani rapper Zed (Ahmed) who, on the cusp of his first world tour, is struck down by an illness that threatens to derail his big break and forces him to face his past, his family, and the uncertainty of his legacy.
      Asked if the film is his ‘baby’, he says: “A lot of my life is in it. It is about reassessment of what really matters. Its big theme is that you don’t know where you are going unless you look back and try and re-connect.” He also shares that the indie movie “is the most personal work I’ve ever made. Can’t wait to share it.”
      Also starring Aiysha Hart, Kiran Sonia Sawar, Nabhaan Rizwan, Alyy Khan and Anjana Vasan, “Mogul Mowgli” is scheduled to be released in the U.K. on October 30. It premiered at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival in Germany in February.

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