Cast & creator
Riz Ahmed
Best known for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show
Rizwan Ahmed (born 1 December 1982) is a British actor and rapper. He has received several awards, including an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award, and nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and two British Academy Film Awards. In 2017, he was named by Time as one of the most influential people in the world. He also created the TV series Englistan in 2018 for the BBC, which was also his writing debut. 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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Riz Ahmed, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Also known as: Riz MC, Rizwan Ahmed
57
film credits
34
television credits
71
1953–2026 · acting roles
6.4
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (91)
Showing 91 of 91 credits
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self - Guest
2014
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Guest
2015
The Daily Show
Self
1996
Digger
Ganesh
2026
The Graham Norton Show
Self
2007
The Late Late Show with James Corden
Self
2015
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self
2003Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self - Guest
2003
The Jennifer Hudson Show
Self - Guest
2022
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
Self
1988
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Self - Musical Guest
2003
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
Self
2014
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Self
2015
Off Camera with Sam Jones
Self
2014
The Jonathan Ross Show
Self
2011
Girls
Paul-Louis
2012
The Oscars
Self
1953
The OA
Elias Rahim
2016
Venom
Carlton Drake / Riot
2018
Nightcrawler
Rick
2014
Jason Bourne
Aaron Kalloor
2016
The Night Of
Nasir 'Naz' Khan
2016
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Bodhi Rook
2016
Bait
Shah Latif
2026Bait
Executive Producer
2026Bait
Writer
2026Bait
Songs
2026Bait
Creator
2026
The Phoenician Scheme
Prince Farouk
2025
The Big Narstie Show
Self
2018
Saturday Night Live UK
Self - Host
2026
Relay
Ash
2025
Dead Set
Riq Rahman
2008
Sound of Metal
Ruben Stone
2020Sound of Metal
Executive Producer
2020
Nimona
Ballister Boldheart (voice)
2023
The Sisters Brothers
Hermann Kermit Warm
2018
10 Minute Tales
Joseph
2009
Centurion
Tarak
2010
The Path to 9/11
Yosri
2006
The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan
Self
2019
Fingernails
Amir
2023
Closed Circuit
Nazrul Sharma
2013
Flee
Executive Producer
2021
Four Lions
Omar
2010
Black Gold
Ali
2011
Wired
Manesh Kunzru
2008Behind the Mic: The Making of The Harry Potter Full-Cast Audio Editions
Self
2025
Encounter
Malik Khan
2021
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Changez
2013
Hamlet
Hamlet
2026Hamlet
Producer
2026
Britz
Sohail
2007
Joyland
Executive Producer
2022
Una
Scott
2017
The Road to Guantanamo
Shafiq
2006
Mogul Mowgli
Zed
2020Mogul Mowgli
Story
2020Mogul Mowgli
Writer
2020Mogul Mowgli
Producer
2020
City of Tiny Lights
Tommy Akhtar
2016
Mustache
Executive Producer
2023
The Stories: The Making of 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'
Self
2017
Freefall
Gary
2009
Defiance: Fighting the Far Right
Executive Producer
2024The Play's the Thing
2006
Ill Manors
Aaron
2012
You Resemble Me
Executive Producer
2022
Trishna
Jay
2011
Together for Palestine
Self
2025Baghdad Express
Talal
2008Baghdad Express
Songs
2008Daytimer
Director
2014Daytimer
Writer
2014
The Long Goodbye
Riz
2021The Long Goodbye
Writer
2021The Big Fix
Rage
Vijay
2009Violent Talent
Growth
The Name of Action
Self
2026
Britz
Sohail Wahid
2007
Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam
Self
2009
Shifty
Shifty
2008
Moshari
Executive Producer
2022
Exit West
Saeed
Exit West
Executive Producer
Lines
2021
Dammi
Mounir
2023
Banglatown Banquet
Razual
2006
Out of Darkness
Male
2013