News | Entertainment
19 Sep 2025 7:58
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Riz Ahmed felt under pressure to "people-please" at the start of his career

    The 37-year-old actor has admitted he spent years trying to "contort [himself] around other people’s expectations", but he's now slowly learning to trust his gut instinct


    He explained: "It’s something I’m still learning to do. If you grow up wearing different masks and code-switching, then your survival is premised on your ability to contort yourself around other people’s expectations and to people-please.

    "That’s why I feel like I’ve been able to play a range of different roles, because I’ve had to live that range of different versions of myself. But what it can sometimes rob you of is a clear handle on your core, what your core values are."

    The London-born actor - who stars in the drama films 'Mogul Mowgli' and 'Sound of Metal' - feels he's going through a "process" as someone who's becoming more confident in his own ideas.

    Riz also feels like he's starting to "embrace" his true self, having tried so hard to please other people earlier in his career.

    He told The Times Magazine: "I was reading this interview with Vincent Cassel about how as a young actor you’re trying to escape who you are, and as an older actor you start to embrace it.

    "I think maybe it’s just a process, because now I’m in a place where I’m saying, ‘Yeah, let’s do 'Mogul Mowgli'. We’ll use my music, we’ll take elements of my life, let’s make that. OK, let’s do 'Sound of Metal'. I’m going to create from the most personal place I have; I want to learn the drums every day.’

    "As opposed to, like, stepping into a mould of someone else’s making."

    © 2025 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

     Other Entertainment News
     19 Sep: Maria Shriver found attending Patrick Schwarzenegger's wedding to be a "humbling" experience
     19 Sep: Josh Duhamel built a house in Minnesota so his kids could grow up away from Hollywood
     19 Sep: Demi Lovato thinks the "tone" of her life has become "lighter"
     19 Sep: Cardi B is a "hopeless romantic"
     18 Sep: Malcolm-Jamal Warner's mother screamed "from the bottom of [her] soul" when she learned of her son's death
     18 Sep: Ethan Hawke has hailed Robert Redford as the "ultimate champion of independent film"
     18 Sep: Anastacia has urged people fighting cancer to embrace the "good days"
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    The Wallabies have axed first five Ben Donaldson for the two Bledisloe Cup tests in favour of their England-bound Crusaders Super Rugby champion More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    Calls for the Reserve Bank to respond swiftly to the latest shock drop in GDP More...



     Today's News

    Business:
    Calls for the Reserve Bank to respond swiftly to the latest shock drop in GDP 7:47

    Health & Safety:
    The Roosters have handed Victor Radley a 10-match suspension without pay and ordered him to make a 34-thousand dollar cancer research donation to St Vincent's Hospital for bringing the NRL league outfit into disrepute 7:37

    Entertainment:
    Maria Shriver found attending Patrick Schwarzenegger's wedding to be a "humbling" experience 7:31

    Environment:
    A 7.8 magnitude earthquake had struck off the east coast of Russia 7:27

    Business:
    Chocolate lovers are being warned not to expect a drastic drop in prices, as cocoa futures start to ease 7:17

    Entertainment:
    Josh Duhamel built a house in Minnesota so his kids could grow up away from Hollywood 7:01

    Entertainment:
    Demi Lovato thinks the "tone" of her life has become "lighter" 6:31

    Living & Travel:
    Police have found the body of a 66-year-old Christchurch woman reported missing on Wednesday afternoon 6:06

    Entertainment:
    Cardi B is a "hopeless romantic" 6:01

    Golf:
    Golfer Ryan Fox is the best of the New Zealanders after the first round of the French Open 5:16


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2025 New Zealand City Ltd