Riz Ahmed - Actor, producer, musician, and activist
Riz Ahmed is running late. The London-based actor is in New York in mid-September for meetings, interviews, photo shoots, and fittings. He got stuck in traffic, and then he realized he forgot the key to his Airbnb. “This is what really productive people do,” he jokes as he settles behind a table for our chat via Zoom, about an hour after the appointed time. “That’s actually one of the secrets I want to share with your readers.”
Whatever system Ahmed has or doesn’t have in place, it’s working. Since his Oscar-nominated performance as a drummer who loses his hearing in the 2020 film Sound of Metal, Ahmed’s agenda has been packed with a dizzying array of projects. He released an album, The Long Goodbye, on his own imprint, Mongrel Records. He co-wrote, produced, and starred in Mogul Mowgli, a film about a British Pakistani rapper who grapples with identity issues while confronting a debilitating illness. He’s tackling the role of Hamlet in a film adaptation written by an Oxford classmate. In December, he stars in the film Encounter as a Marine saving his family from an apparent alien threat.
This story is from the Winter 2021-2022 edition of Fast Company.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Winter 2021-2022 edition of Fast Company.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
CREATOR ECONOMY
Carpe DM New platforms monetize intimate\" bonds between creators and their fans.
MEDIA
Inside Cesar's Palace NBCUniversal News chairman Cesar Conde's empire was rocked by a recent revolt.
CULTURE WARS
IN 2013, RODZ AND GORE FOUND themselves chatting in a tent in the wilds of northern Utah, attendees at a conference at which guests reportedly paid up to $12,000 to do yoga, fish, and kibitz with fellow entrepreneurs, would-be investors, and the author and psychotherapist Esther Perel.
CULTURE WARS
Tipping Point Stephen Miller's nonprofit is suing a startup over racial discrimination. The diversity of American business is at stake.
WORK LIFE
Nancy Reyes, CEO of the Americas at BBDO, answers our career questionnaire.
POLITICS
The Color of Money ActBlue has become the default fundraising machine for the Democratic Party. Here's why that's dangerous.
PODCASTING
The \"Great Men\" Theory of Podcasting Listen up, the 21stcentury frontiersmen are talking—a lot.
WORLD CHANGING IDEAS
FROM THE TINY SOUTH PACIFIC ISLAND OF NIUE то THE BUSTLING STREETS OF PARIS, FROM GUINEA TO SAN FRANCISCO, PEOPLE ARE DEVISING SOLUTIONS TO THE WORLD'S GREATEST CHALLENGES.
THE PERPLEXITY EFFECT
WHEN YOU GOOGLE THE TERM \"PERPLEXITY AI,\" YOU GET A FAMILIAR-LOOKING RESPONSE: A LINK TO THE COMPANY'S WEBSITE FOLLOWED BY FOUR OTHER RELATED POPULAR QUERIES, A HANDFUL OF PUBLISHED ARTICLES, RELATED SEARCHES, AND AN ENDLESS SCROLL OF LINKS THAT IF PRINTED OUT MIGHT EXTEND FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO AUSTIN.
Where the Design Jobs Are
The shifting winds of the U.S. economy in the past year have left designers disoriented.