Riz Ahmed Is Always One Step Ahead

Riz Ahmed’s rise to leading man status did not happen overnight. “I think some careers have a defining moment that’s like a rocket ship,” Ahmed tells me. “And I think other careers kind of build steadily. And most careers build unsteadily, like a roller coaster.” Though Ahmed sees his own career as a slow burn, things are heating up: He recently screened his modern-day Hamlet at the Toronto International Film Festival, will soon star in a Prime Video series he also created, and has a role in Tom Cruise and Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s highly anticipated Warner Bros. film.

Working with Cruise, Ahmed says, is “like nothing else I’ve ever experienced, in terms of the level of focus, energy, motivation, and perfectionism. He just loves making movies. He doesn’t have days off. This is what he loves doing, and he’s very clear that this was what he was put on this earth to do.” Ahmed is much less of a showman than Cruise, at least during our conversation; he’s measured, earnest, and takes his time. He views publicity as a tool, something he can use to help bring attention to the movies he produces under his production company, Left Handed Films.

Photographer Theo Wenner. Fashion Editor Tom Guinness.

Slippers by Bowhill & Elliott; socks by Pantherella.

Photographer Theo Wenner. Fashion Editor Tom Guinness.

Unlike some members of Hollywood’s new guard, Ahmed is not terminally online. “I actually don’t have any social media apps on my phone,” he says. “I feel like the best kind of dancing is when you dance like no one’s watching. Being in a place where you’re just reminded of how watched everything is, and what people are watching. I just feel like it pollutes my own process a little bit.” Which is not to say he’s totally oblivious to online culture. Ahmed posts on social media to promote his company and projects; he hears about memes and viral moments from his family. “What usually happens is my nephew will text me something about myself and just be like, ‘LOL.’” At Hamlet’s Toronto showing, a red-carpet reporter asked Ahmed about watching The Summer I Turned Pretty with his wife. And while he wouldn’t commit to being Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah, the moment was part of a trend of asking celebrities about the show. For someone who isn’t online, Ahmed still has a knack for being part of the discourse.

While promoting another film, Relay, earlier this year, Ahmed found himself enjoying the process of talking to influencers for TikToks and Instagram videos. “In many ways, it allowed me to be more of a human being than a heavily edited film piece might,” he says. “If there’s an opportunity to connect in a real way by being playful online with some young creators, I’ll take that opportunity.” All of this is in service to what Ahmed really cares about—his work as an actor-producer.

In 2022, Ahmed won an Oscar for the live-action short The Long Goodbye, which he starred in and cowrote. Soon he will star in a Prime Video series he created, which he is also showrunning with writer-producer Ben Karlin. He plays a struggling actor who is thrust into an existential crisis—a slightly meta experience for him. As a young actor, Ahmed felt that performing was about becoming someone else. The more he worked, however, he realized “that acting isn’t about putting on a mask so much. It’s about taking the mask off. It’s about trying to reveal the most personal, brutal, and private parts of you.”

Photographer Theo Wenner. Fashion Editor Tom Guinness.

During our conversation, Ahmed frequently explains how his views have evolved throughout his career. “Someone told me that Blue Valentine took 10 years to make, and I remember thinking how crazy that was,” he says. “Then I got into producing and here I am, about to bring Hamlet out, and it’s been 14 years. And I’ve been working on my TV show for about 10 years.” When asked what genre he’d like to tackle next, he pauses and contemplates. “I’ve never done a horror movie,” he says. Which is surprising given the genre’s popularity. “I think horror is interesting in the same way that comedy is, because you can bypass people’s brain and go straight to the gut,” he says. “It can be an interesting medium through which you can explore provocative ideas.”

If there’s one constant for Ahmed, it’s his desire to have purpose in everything he does. It’s no surprise that he lists Denzel Washington, Jackie Chan, and Irrfan Khan as three actors who have inspired him, all for different reasons. Washington is “unapologetically himself,” Ahmed says. Chan has “put forward a complicated and layered mold of manhood.” Khan, meanwhile, was “one of the first actors to truly bridge East and West.” What connects the three actors, for Ahmed, is that they “didn’t fit the mold.” Neither does he.

Set Design Julia Wagner; DP Shane Sigler; Location Ealing Studios; Groomer Liz Taw; Manicurist Adam Slee; Produced by Casa Projects. For details, go to VF.com/credits.