Riz Ahmed has become the first Muslim actor to be nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars.
Ahmed completed the feat with his strong role in Amazon’s Sound of Metal, which has been nominated for six Academy Awards in 2021 — best picture, best director, best-supporting actor (Paul Raci), best original script, best editing, and best sound.
Ahmed, though, is not the only one making history. Steven Yeun, who is also up for Best Actor this year, is the ceremony’s first Asian-American candidate in its 93-year history.
Ahmed says “If there’s a way in which people can find themselves in this moment, and can feel inspired and connected on a deeper level, I’m all for it,”. He adds “Whether they see me as the first British-Pakistani, or the first guy from Wembley, you know, there’s so many ways to view it. But as long as it feels like an opportunity for more people than ever before to really connect and feel included in this moment, that’s a blessing. We should stretch culture so that it’s big enough and wide enough and expansive enough so that there’s space for all of us to find ourselves in it, to feel that we belong and that we’re included, and that we matter. These changes aren’t just something that’s good politically or socially. It’s something which allows stories and storytelling to get back to its original intention, which is to embrace all of us.”
Ahmed plays a drummer who loses his hearing in his film. For the shoot, he had to truly play the guitar, practice American Sign Language (ASL), and literally drive himself to the brink as an ex-heroin user who risks losing anything due to his hearing loss.
He wore custom implants in his ears that released white noise and a high ringing to simulate tinnitus onset.
Sound of Metal debuted at TIFF in 2019 and was later picked up by Amazon Studios for distribution.
