News | Entertainment
2 Jul 2025 15:35
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
     02 Jul: Lauren Chan is "much more comfortable" since coming out
     02 Jul: Taylor Swift has spent $13,000 on a giant friendship bracelet
     02 Jul: Kate Winslet has become an ambassador for The King's Foundation
     02 Jul: Bob Geldof has praised his late ex-wife Paula Yates for being instrumental in Live Aid
     02 Jul: Sir Brian May doesn't believe that his Queen bandmate Freddie Mercury has a secret daughter
     02 Jul: Scarlett Johansson has revealed that her twin brother Hunter was her most enthusiastic supporter at the premiere of Jurassic World Rebirth
     02 Jul: James Norton is "crazily grateful" for the "pain" of his split from Imogen Poots
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    Warriors Women skipper Apii Nicholls has explained how having so many rugby union players is improving their hopes in the NRLW More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    Prices for top-end butter are through the roof, with little recourse for shoppers More...



     Today's News

    Politics:
    Why Republicans are voting against Donald Trump's Big Beautiful Bill 15:27

    Rugby League:
    Warriors Women skipper Apii Nicholls has explained how having so many rugby union players is improving their hopes in the NRLW 15:27

    Law and Order:
    Donald Trump tours 'Alligator Alcatraz' in new warning to undocumented migrants 15:07

    Entertainment:
    Lauren Chan is "much more comfortable" since coming out 15:06

    Business:
    Prices for top-end butter are through the roof, with little recourse for shoppers 14:57

    Entertainment:
    Taylor Swift has spent $13,000 on a giant friendship bracelet 14:36

    Soccer:
    The Wellington Phoenix have confirmed the departure of three men's players 14:07

    Entertainment:
    Kate Winslet has become an ambassador for The King's Foundation 14:06

    Accident and Emergency:
    A 34-year-old woman's died, after a two-vehicle crash last Thursday on State Highway Two in Tauranga 13:47

    Entertainment:
    Bob Geldof has praised his late ex-wife Paula Yates for being instrumental in Live Aid 13:36


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2025 New Zealand City Ltd