- published: 06 Jan 2012
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Rizwan Ahmed (born 1 December 1982 in Wembley, London), also known as Riz Ahmed, the Rizmeister General, the Rizmadizzle, or Riz MC, is a British MC, musician and actor. He is noted for his lead performances in The Road to Guantanamo, Shifty, Britz, and Four Lions.
Ahmed is a British Pakistani. Ahmed's parents belonged to Karachi in Sindh, Pakistan, before emigrating to the United Kingdom.
Ahmed attended Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood through a scholarship programme. He graduated from Christ Church, Oxford with a degree in PPE and studied acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Ahmed's film career began in the Michael Winterbottom film The Road to Guantanamo in which he played the part of Shafiq Rasul, a member of the Tipton Three. Coincidentally, he and another actor involved in the film as well as two of the Tipton Three were detained at Luton Airport upon their return from the Berlin Film Festival where the film won a Silver Bear Award. Across his years as an actor he has also featured in various TV roles. He has played Sohail Waheed in the 2007 Channel 4 drama, Britz. 2008 saw him perform as both Riq in the five-part horror thriller for E4, Dead Set and Manesh Kunzru in ITV1's finance fraud drama Wired. In July 2009 in appeared in Freefall alongside Sarah Harding. Most notably, he featured in the title role of the 2009 independent film Shifty by Eran Creevy. Ahmed plays the charismatic young drug dealer in the film which sees a life in the day of this character. He was nominated for Best Actor at the 2008 British Independent Film Awards for this role, alongside Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson.
Mary Stockley is a British stage, television and film actress.
A former member of the National Youth Music Theatre, Stockley studied drama at university. She made her first television appearance in 2001 in the TV film Being Dom Jolly, in 2002 going on to play Kate Matherson in eight episodes of Family Affairs on Five. Stockley played Josie Turner in Agatha Christie's Marple (2004), Gina Way in Jericho (2005), Edie Covington in The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (2006), Mrs Clay in Persuasion (2007), Tess in Britz (2007), Miss Jay in Ballet Shoes (2007), and Eve Carpenter in Agatha Christie's Poirot (2008).
Her film appearances include Ruth Ellis in Pierrepoint (2005), Ruth in V for Vendetta (2006), Michelle in 7lives (2011), and Mrs. Fisher in The Woman in Black (2012).
Stockley's theatre credits include Oliver!; Merrily We Roll Along (2000) at the Donmar Warehouse; Hope Harcourt in the musical Anything Goes (2002) and Katherine in Love's Labour's Lost (2003), both the latter at the Royal National Theatre. In 2008 she played Marigold in The Common Pursuit at the Menier Chocolate Factory.
Britz is a two-part drama serial written and directed by BAFTA-winning director Peter Kosminsky and first screened by Channel 4 in the UK in October and November 2007.
Britz attempts to understand what would lead a second generation Muslim to turn against the country of their birth. It blames Britain’s anti-terrorism legislation - in particular, the contentious subject of control orders - and foreign policy for alienating the Muslim community. The film makes references to the perpetrators of the July 2005 London bombings.