Riz Ahmed Makes History, Becomes The First Muslim Actor To Receive Best Actor Oscar Nomination

Earlier, Mahershala Ali became the first supporting actor to win an Oscar for his performance in Moonlight (2017). And now Riz Ahmed’s nomination has made him the first in the lead category. The Pakistani British actor has his fingers crossed to reach to the finale.

Talking about this achievement in an interview with Los Angeles Times, he said, “To be honest, I just feel like however people can find themselves in this moment, however they can find a connection to this moment, is beautiful to me. Some people may connect to the fact that it’s the first Muslim, some people might say British Pakistani, some people might say first person from Wembley in London, what matters to me is that these moments of celebration, these moments of collective recognition, are actually moments where as many people as possible can recognize themselves in it.”

He was also the first Muslim and Asian to win a lead acting Emmy in 2017 for ‘The Night of’.