DUBAI: Oscar-nominated actor Riz Ahmed is the cover star for British GQ this month. In the accompanying cover story, the British-Pakistani actor opened up about how there needs to be more, and better, representation for Muslims in the media, stating poor representation “costs lives” and that we need to “empower people to tell their own story.”
Speaking of the lack of diversity on screen, Ahmed told the publication: “It’s a blind spot that’s all over our culture. And it costs lives. Countries get invaded, hate crimes go up, laws get passed. So off the back of that we’re thinking, ‘What do we need to shift?’ And, actually, it’s about empowering people to tell their own story.”
The “Sound of Metal” star is a staunch advocate for representation.
In addition to launching the Blueprint For Muslim Inclusion — a multi-layered initiative for Muslim representation in media based on a report that found that less than 10 percent of top grossing films from 2017-2019 had a Muslim character on screen despite making up 24% of the population — he teamed up with the Pillars Fund to launch the Pillars Artist Fellowship program, which offers up-and-coming Muslim creatives an unrestricted grant of $25,000 and one-on-one mentorship.
“It’s unrestricted because people don’t think about the class issue, but more than half of Muslims in the UK live under the poverty line and of all religious groups in the US the group most likely to live in poverty is Muslims,” Ahmed told the publication of the program.
The actor’s next film role is in “Mogul Mowgli” which will see him take on the role of a British-Pakistani rapper diagnosed with a degenerative autoimmune disease.
“So this isn’t just about, ‘Hey, we’re going to put you in touch with a network and mentor,’ although we’ve got that as well – including Mahershala Ali, Ramy Youssef, Lena Khan, Hasan Minhaj – but people need to pay their rent. It’s about access in that way too. We’ll give you the money and you can use it how you want,” he added.
The project was conceived after the 38-year-old gave an impassioned speech at the 2019 CAA’s Amplify conference, where he made a plea for the entertainment industry to reevaluate its role in perpetuating negative stereotypes about Muslims and the real threats members of the community face in their everyday lives.
The actor’s next film role is in “Mogul Mowgli” which will see him take on the role of a British-Pakistani rapper diagnosed with a degenerative autoimmune disease.
Ahmed and US-Pakistani director Bassam Tariq, 34, wrote the screenplay for “Mogul Mowgli,” which was filmed in 2019 in London.
In March, the British actor made history by becoming the first Muslim to be nominated in the best lead actor category at the Oscars.
He was nominated for his role in “Sound of Metal,” which tells the story of Ruben, a rock-and-roll drummer and recovering addict whose life is sent into a tailspin when he loses his hearing.