Riz Ahmed makes history, becomes first Muslim nominated for lead actor Oscar

Riz Ahmed stars in Sound of Metal as Ruben, a punk drummer and recovering addict who loses his hearing.

Riz Ahmed bagged an Academy Award nomination on March 15 for his role in Sound of Metal, becoming the first Muslim to be nominated in the Oscars Best Actor category.

The 38-year-old British Pakistani actor previously was the first Muslim, and first Asian, to win a lead acting Emmy in 2017 for lead actor in a limited series or movie for The Night Of.

In Sound of Metal, Ahmed stars as Ruben, a rock-and-roll drummer and recovering addict who loses his hearing. For his work in Darius Marder's drama, the actor scored nominations for the Golden Globe, SAG Award, Spirit Award and BAFTA for lead actor. He won the Gotham Award and numerous critics prizes.

"It's been a really long journey for this movie — and even longer for [director] Darius Marder, who started working on this movie 13 years ago," Ahmed previously told Entertainment Weekly.

"It's something that has been so close to his heart, and so close to all our hearts who worked on this — kind of like a little family that formed over this intense, low-budget shoot that took place against the odds. It's one of those crazy stories where you don't know if anyone will see this or how it will all turn out — but it did in this incredible way that people seem to be connecting with," he added.

Ahmed also featured in films such as Rogue One, Venom, The Sisters Brothers, Nightcrawler, Four Lions and his latest Mogul Mowgli.

Mahershala Ali previously became the first Muslim actor to win an Oscar, winning in the Best Supporting Actor category for Moonlight in 2017 and for Green Book in 2019.