RIZ AHMED

British multihyphenate Riz Ahmed has been consistently impressive in incendiary indies and bigger blockbuster fare. But as he takes on one of his most powerful roles yet as a drummer losing his hearing in Sound Of Metal, he tells Total Film that he’s just getting started... AT ITS HEART, EVERY STORY IS ABOUT TRYING TO ANSWER THE QUESTION, “WHO AM I?”

- MATT MAYTUM

Riz Ahmed might be one of the hardest-working British actors in the business today. Since breaking out in the mid-’00s, you might have seen him in everything from thought-provoking indies (Shifty, Ill Manors) to top telly (Dead Set, The Night Of, Girls), the biggest of blockbusters (Jason Bourne, Rogue One, Venom) and the talking-point comedy of the past 20 years (Four Lions). Alongside his acting career, Ahmed has revealed another side of himself as a rapper, releasing material solo and as part of Swet Shop Boys (it was his track ‘Post 9/11 Blues’ that caught the attention of Chris Morris).

In his latest film, Sound Of Metal, Ahmed plays Ruben Stone, a drummer in a band with his girlfriend, Lou (Olivia Cooke). Gigging and living out of a tour van, their free, nomadic lifestyle is upended when Ruben suddenly suffers severe hearing loss, and has no choice but to check himself into a home for deaf addicts. There he bonds with an older mentor, Joe (played Paul Raci, a child of deaf adults and sign-language expert). Written and directed by Darius Marder in his feature film debut, Sound Of Metal is particularly notable for its extremely immersive sound design. It’s a profound piece of work, providing Ahmed with one of his best roles yet.

“I just fell in love with the script without any context,” Ahmed tells TF, speaking over Zoom from the location of the currently filming (Covid-secure, of course)