British Actor Riz Ahmed Becomes First Muslim To Earn Best Actor Academy Award Nomination
His historic nomination is accompanied by five other Academy Award nominations for “Sound of Metal,” including Best Picture.
British Muslim actor, Riz Ahmed, is making history as the first Muslim to be nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Academy Award for his role in the Amazon original film “Sound of Metal.”
Ahmed is being acclaimed for his role as Ruben, a punk-metal drummer who begins to lose his hearing and is advised to eliminate his exposure to loud noises. Ruben continues to perform, though.
Serena Rasoul, the founder of Muslim American Casting (MAC), said Ahmed’s nomination is a step forward in the representation of Muslims.
Pictured: Serena Rasoul“Representation means everything. It’s been said a thousand times, but when a child sees someone from their community attain such high accolades their mind literally expands,” she said. “What I mean by that is, imagine only being able to see down one street your whole life, and then all of a sudden you are told that street belongs to a whole neighborhood. Your world view shifts, your cognitive map expands, professions never thought possible become visible.”
Ahmed’s acting career began in 2006, but he became known for his breakout role in “Nightcrawler” (2014). He later starred in the HBO series “The Night Of,” for which he won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. During quarantine, he revealed he married bestselling American Muslim author Fatima Farheen Mirza, whose debut novel “A Place For Us” was the first book published by Sarah Jessica Parker’s imprint.
Pictured: Fatima Farheen MirzaAhmed hasn’t stopped at acting. As a musician, he won an MTV Video Music Award for this song “Immigrants (We Get The Job Done).” Last year, he released “The Long Goodbye,” a critically acclaimed album that inspired an accompanying short film. He’s known for his political rap music, has raised funds for Rohingya and Syrian refugees and was on the cover of the 2017 “Time 100” most influential people.
The actor's nomination for Best Actor follows in the steps of Mahershala Ali who smashed the glass ceiling as the first Muslim to ever win an academy award - winning Oscars for best Supporting Actor in 2016 and again in 2018.
Pictured: Mahershala AliGroundbreaking organizations like MAC are generating awareness about Muslim talent and its founder is confident the agency can help others follow in Ahmed’s footsteps.
“As a casting agency, the best thing we can do is generate awareness about the talent within our community and uplift fellow filmmakers and producers to create so that they will use our talent when making their show or films,” says Rasoul. “We have a great database and have plans to showcase this talent in the future,” she said. “Who knows, the next Riz Ahmed could be one casting call away.”
Rasoul says while landing great roles and winning Oscars won't happen overnight, it's crucial Muslims control their own narrative — otherwise it will be written by those who are hostile or less qualified.
“Not everyone will attain superstardom, or get an Oscar nomination. But knowing the pathway exists can be enough for young Muslim creatives to feel like they too can belong to an industry that has for too long misrepresented them,” she said. “Also, let’s not forget, there is a whole world behind that camera that needs creatives just as much. In the form of writers, directors, animators, costume designers, composers — they also win awards.”
“Sound of Metal” is also nominated for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor for Paul Raci, Best Film Editing and Best Sound.
