No one’s of Pakistani origin in any British show. That’s why every actor of color is here working in the States. It’s true. Riz Ahmed Read Quote
Whether you look at ‘Glee’ and its normalization of gay identity or you look at the work of Martin Scorsese and the Italian-American community, American culture is able to take these stories, which are seen as marginalized, and just turn them into American stories. And you don’t think twice about it. Riz Ahmed Read Quote
You can read a character that feels amazing, but if the world around it and all the writing around it – even the way the stage descriptions are written – don’t feel just right, then you know there’s no point in doing the project. No character is ever bigger than the whole film. Riz Ahmed Read Quote
I grew up listening to a lot of early ’90s hip-hop. I had the debut Wu-Tang album, Biggie, Snoop, that kind of stuff. Hieroglyphics, the Gravediggaz. I remember D.O.C.’s ‘The Portrait of a Masterpiece’ was something that had a big influence on me. Riz Ahmed Read Quote
Growing up in the mid-to-late ’90s in London, you start seeing the explosion of drum’n’bass and then the birth of U.K. garage and grime. I decided to focus a lot of my energies as an aspiring MC. It was a very natural way to express yourself as a kid from a certain kind of neighborhood. Riz Ahmed Read Quote
I remember, growing up, you didn’t wear an England shirt. The English flag was very much – and still is, to some extent – associated with the far-right movements of the 1980s that I grew up around. Riz Ahmed Read Quote
The fact is, I’ve been releasing records longer than I’ve been releasing films, or at least exactly as long. Riz Ahmed Read Quote
There’s no black and white in this world; it’s all grey. That’s what people are like! No one think they’re a baddie. Everyone thinks they’re trying to do their bit to make the world a better place. Riz Ahmed Read Quote
