“A defining film”: The Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Riz Ahmed will “always love”
In 2021, Riz Ahmed became the first Muslim to be nominated for ‘Best Actor’ at the Oscars. He picked up the nod for his outstanding performance in The Sound of Metal. Moments like this can feel instantaneous, but they are always the culmination of careers so far.
From early starring roles in Four Lions and Trishna to breaking into Hollywood with Rogue One and Venom, to flexing his artistic muscles with projects like the heartbreaking documentary Flee, Ahmed has truly done it all, and still has plenty of time to do even more.
He began his acting career in the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, but even before attending his first class, he was a big film fan. In an interview with Time Out, he was asked to present a list of his ten favourites. A daunting task for any movie buff, Ahmed was, always, up to the challenge.
The British star is clearly a fan of Robert De Niro, as both Goodfellas and The Godfather Part II made the cut. He described Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line as “my first properly spiritual experience watching a film,” and hardened his film snob credentials by picking seminal French production La Haine. He also picked The Goonies, presumably to balance this out.
If it’s pure Hollywood action you’re after, then you’ll like this one. Ahmed picked Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the high-octane sequel to James Cameron’s robo-rific original. “This was a defining film for me,” he explained. “The mythology, the CGI, Arnie as a robot and the brilliant (although since underused) Edward Furlong… I’ll always love this.”
Released seven years after the first film, Terminator 2 (sometimes called ‘T2’ in certain circles) hit cinemas like an 18-wheeler. While the first film had been a slower, more cerebral affair, this one was all gas, no brakes. It helped that Cameron had been given a ton of money to play with; this was the most expensive film ever made at the time. Most of that money went on the top-of-the-line special effects, particularly in scenes involving Robert Patrick’s T-1000, a machine made of liquid metal that could slip between bars, reconstitute after being destroyed, and change its form accordingly.
Ahmed mentioned Edward Furlong, the young actor who plays a pre-teen John Connor in Judgment Day. When the first choice, Charlie Korsmo, was contractually bullied into doing a Bill Murray film instead, Furlong grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Sadly, as Ahmed alluded to, this was pretty much the peak of his career.
He had a brief resurgence in 1998, starring in both John Waters’ Pecker and Tony Kaye’s American History X, but he would never again reach the heady highs of averting the apocalypse. He went through a period of substance abuse, which resulted in a brief jail spell following a domestic incident with his then-girlfriend. He has since attended rehab and has undergone something of a redemption arc.
T2 came out in 1991. Ahmed would have been either eight or nine years old at the time, AKA the perfect age to be blown away by this thrill ride of a movie. Some may prefer the slower pace of the original, but for pure excitement value, it’s number two that comes out on top.
