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" I'm used to doing U.K. indie films, like, six weeks of filming, tops. "
Riz Ahmed
Six
Indie
Filming
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" No-one gets a job at 16 and stays in it until 60 any more; we're connected to more people simultaneously than ever before, whether online or on our phones. We wear so many different hats within one day, one week, a lifetime. "
Riz Ahmed
Job
Hats
Day
" Being South Asian in the U.K. is like being Latino in the U.S., I would guess. It's a bit more hood. You see things; things happen. I was bouncing between worlds. You're acting from a very early age, when you have to code-switch like that. I'm a hybrid, a mongrel. I think many people live that life. "
Riz Ahmed
Life
You
People
" The camera or the microphone in the booth is merciless. If you don't believe what you're saying, it hears it. If you don't believe it, it sees it in your eyes, it hears it in your voice that there isn't the conviction there. "
Riz Ahmed
Believe
Saying
Eyes
" In terms of negotiating a career - I've always grown up being an insider and an outsider to different worlds, across different classes and cultures, so I have always naturally liked making films or music that puts things in unexpected places. "
Riz Ahmed
Always
Unexpected
Up
" Trajectories aren't linear. Life's just a roller coaster. If you're getting a chance to do cool stuff, and it's varied stuff, just enjoy it. I guess I'm a believer in the randomness of life rather than it being a linear trajectory or an arc, a consistent smooth arc, towards anything. "
Riz Ahmed
Enjoy
Smooth
Cool
" I like the idea of being caught between things, always being a bit of an outsider, having an outside eye on things - almost like a Shakespearean fool. "
Riz Ahmed
Outside
Like
Fool
" Anyone driving great social change, willingly or not, is going to be a fascinating contradictory mix of idealism and ego. "
Riz Ahmed
Driving
Mix
Great
" Maybe I don't ever fully switch off, but I think the way I offset that is by splitting my time between film and music. I always want to challenge myself and grow, fail, self-flagellate, and then try again. "
Riz Ahmed
Think
Myself
Music
" I don't think any of us like to be reduced to just one label. "
Riz Ahmed
Like
Just One
Us
" The fact is, I've been releasing records longer than I've been releasing films, or at least exactly as long. "
Riz Ahmed
Fact
Been
Exactly
" Multiculturalism isn't just a buzzword; it's not just something to debate - I am multiculturalism. "
Riz Ahmed
I Am
Am
Something
" The reality of Britain is vibrant multiculturalism, but the myth we export is an all-white world of lords and ladies. Conversely, American society is pretty segregated, but the myth it exports is of a racial melting-pot, everyone solving crimes and fighting aliens side by side. "
Riz Ahmed
Side
World
Society
" Sadly, I have disappointed the surveillance capitalists myself by not yet downloading 'Pokemon Go.' But I'm addicted to my phone enough as it is, and I don't necessarily need that helping hand. "
Riz Ahmed
Need
Phone
Enough
" The multiculturalism of Britain is one of our greatest strengths in music, literature, and visual art, but the TV and film industry doesn't tap into the multicultural talent pool in the U.K. as much as they do in the U.S. "
Riz Ahmed
Art
Talent
Literature
" Hollywood is an image. We project these fantasies on to it, but people are just people. "
Riz Ahmed
Project
Hollywood
Image
" It's interesting that we assign the label 'political' to art that doesn't just fit a mould of status quo. Is 'Downton Abbey' not political? That's political! Every piece of art offers a perspective on the world. And what is politics if not a perspective on the world? 'Downton Abbey' is about class. It's also about race. "
Riz Ahmed
Perspective
Politics
Race
" The 'Bourne' films totally reimagined and elevated the action genre. "
Riz Ahmed
Action
Elevated
Films
" I get good references from a wide range of music. Something who's been a good influence in the last few years is Qawwali music. If you listen to a Qawwali singer like Aziz Mian - he's like James Brown. Qawwali is like Pakistani gospel-jazz. It's emotional, but it's also improvised, and it's all about that sacred-and-profane tightrope. "
Riz Ahmed
You
Good
Music
" 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
Identity
Work
Community
" I think that in an Internet age, content is content. As long as you can stand up on the merits of what you're doing right at that moment and aren't just relying on your success in doing something else, it's all good; people will respect you. "
Riz Ahmed
Good
Moment
Respect
" As a minority, no sooner do you learn to polish and cherish one chip on your shoulder than it's taken off you and swapped for another. The jewellery of your struggles is forever on loan, like the Koh-i-Noor diamond in the crown jewels. "
Riz Ahmed
You
Learn
Crown
" I have always been restless, had a lot of energy. "
Riz Ahmed
Energy
Lot
Always
" 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
Flag
You
Remember
" I'm not trying to project any persona. Often people don't know where to put me. I don't fit comfortably under banners, and that's fine. I'm not worried about not making sense to people. That's probably my best asset. "
Riz Ahmed
Know
Project
People
" I go to a lot of stand-up comedy. I find more inspiration from observational stuff than from rap. "
Riz Ahmed
Rap
More
Inspiration
" My music is a very personal reflection of me, whereas, acting a role, that's a reflection of another character. "
Riz Ahmed
Character
Acting
Me
" Sometimes when you're inside a story, it's almost better if you don't think too much about its wider cultural significance or if you don't think about how audiences might react to it. That takes you out of the reality of the situation you're committing to as you're telling the story. "
Riz Ahmed
Better
You
Story
" I'm not in a 'starry' position to be able to pick and choose, but I am interested in telling stories of substance with great directors - that's my only guiding principle. "
Riz Ahmed
Position
Principle
I Am
" I'm an actor. Since I was a teenager, I have had to play different characters, negotiating the cultural expectations of a Pakistani family, Brit-Asian rudeboy culture, and a scholarship to private school. The fluidity of my own personal identity on any given day was further compounded by the changing labels assigned to Asians in general. "
Riz Ahmed
School
Culture
Day
" Reshoots are par for the course on any film. For me, I kind of love it because, as an actor, you always feel that there was a way you could have done it differently. Being able to go back and do some stuff again is always a blessing in my eyes. "
Riz Ahmed
Feel
You
Me