Riz Ahmed: The Great British Take Off

After starring in indies like Shifty and Four Lions, Riz Ahmed won acclaim in HBO’s The Night Of and is now jumping into hyperspace in Rogue One. Total Film meets the Brit multihyphenate to talk Star Wars, rapping and racial profiling.

- Matt Maytum

This is my first studio film, man,” grins Riz Ahmed. “This is the first time I’ve done a film this big, and there probably aren’t films that get any bigger, so I’m definitely in at the deep end – just the scale of it is a bit dizzying.” Total Film is catching up with the 33-year-old Brit at the Corinthia Hotel in London, where’s he’s on press duties for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (he wasn’t exaggerating when he said films don’t get any bigger than this).

If he’s feeling any pressure, he’s certainly not showing it, as he chats away between mouthfuls of salad forked from a plastic pot. “Do you mind if I just finish this off?” he asks, before continuing his lunch. He’s dressed smartly in a ribbed jumper and black trousers, but the blockbuster lifestyle doesn’t seem to have gone to his head just yet. His tipple of choice this afternoon? A Lemsip. He’s not ill,but he calls it “precautionary”, given all the travelling he’s been doing of late. His Rogue One tour might be kicking off now, but when we meet he’s just been in the States promoting his new album (as Riz MC, he’s one half of hip-hop duo Swet Shop Boys). HBO hit The Night Of has also raised his profile in the US.