The 2008 movie that crushed Riz Ahmed’s spirit: “Well, that’s it, it’s done”
Some people really do seem to be great at everything, like Riz Ahmed, who is not only is he an incredible actor with some brilliant films under his belt, but he’s also a chart-topping musician.
He is a prominent activist for a number of good causes, an Oscar-winning short filmmaker, and to top it all off, he’s incredibly handsome; some guys have all the luck.
Born in London to Pakistani parents, Ahmed has been very outspoken about the portrayal of South Asians and Muslims in popular media and has been a stern advocate for more diversity on screen, his views often crossing over with the roles he portrays. In 2018, two researchers developed what they termed ‘The Riz Test’, a version of the Bechdel Test for Muslim characters, inspired by a speech Ahmed delivered in the House of Commons.
While there is still a lot of work to be done, the number of roles available to South Asian actors is a lot higher than it was when Ahmed was just starting out. In an era where fear of Islamist terrorism ran rampant, most actors of this demographic found themselves pigeonholed into playing one-note villain characters.
In an interview with The Guardian in 2021, the star remembered one of the rare opportunities he received during this period and, unfortunately, how he blew it.
“When Slumdog Millionaire came up, I’d already been working for a few years,” he recalled, “It was like, ‘There’s never been anything like this! A lead role in a film, and it’s for a young brown dude’. And when I didn’t get it, straight away, I was like, ‘Well, that’s it, it’s done, there’s not going to be another one of those’.”
The role Ahmed missed out on was of Jamal Malik in the Danny Boyle-directed Slumdog Millionaire, who appears as an underdog contestant on the Indian equivalent of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and surprises everyone by getting every question right, leading the police to accuse him of cheating, which is when he reveals the extraordinary events that have occurred throughout his life to led him to miraculously knowing the answers.
Malik was played by Dev Patel in his first-ever film, who was previously best known for his role as Anwar Kharral in the coming-of-age TV show Skins, which is where Boyle’s daughter first spotted him, and it earned him a Bafta nomination for ‘Best Actor in a Leading Role’. The rest of the cast was made up mostly of Bollywood stars, with casting directors Gail Stevens and Loveleen Tandan travelling to India to recruit extras from shanty towns and slums in Mumbai.
While Ahmed missed out on Slumdog Millionaire, it wouldn’t take long for someone else to realise his greatness. His much-loved appearance in Four Lions came just a few years later, which was quickly followed by his global breakout performance in Nightcrawller. In 2021, he became the first Muslim to be nominated for ‘Best Actor’ at the Oscars, following his astounding turn in The Sound of Metal.
