beyondoxbridge spoke to Riz Ahmed AKA Riz MC about his successful career so far as both an actor and a musician.

Lets start with the acting. When did you start getting into it? Did you do lots of acting at Oxford?

I started acting at school - I was a hyperactive kid and it was an outlet for performing that didn't involve being disruptive in class, as suggested by teachers. I loved the social side of it, staying after school and being part of the whole rehearsal process. At Oxford I did a fair bit, not loads - about five plays in the three years, and I directed one. I think I found the thespy social side slightly alienating, and didn't feel very at home in it, so didn't immerse myself into that world as much as I could have.

When did you decide to pursue acting as a serious career? What was your next step?

I always wanted to try pursuing a career but never thought it was possible. There were also lots of other things I wanted to do that I thought were more stable and more realistic, things I'd been told I should be form a young age - a lawyer or go into politics and so on. It was when I started doing job hunts for these ther things I relaised I couldnt get excited about them. I researched the prices and length of courses, and which ones are eligible for different kinds of funding, and applied just for one course at one drama school, almost just to satisfy my curiosity. I then had to audition for them, and I was offered a place. Funding was another big hurdle, but I was really just very lucky to get my course funded, it was an MA.

You've acted in both successful plays and films (including the Silver Bear-winning Road to Guantanamo, directed by Michael Winterbottom). Which do you prefer, and why?

Screen is exciting as it's very new to me, and I'm interested in exploring that more at the moment.
But I'd like to do theatre too - it's more the actor's medium - on a film set you're often just a small part of a big machine. On stage, it's just the actors telling the whoel story - even though film is seen as more realistic, the process of rehearsing and perfroming a play feels much more organic, and can give you a lot more freedom than a film set environment.

You have some new projects out soon. Can you tell us a bit about it?

There's a film called Shifty opposite Jason Flemyng and Daniel Mays, playing a crack dealer in a rut, in mid-Essex. It was almost zero budget, so you knew that all the people involved were there because they believed in the script, not for the money.
It was funded and made under a new micro budget film initiative form Film London and the BBC - it's a changing time for the film and music industry, so it's good to see solid new production models and creative responses to those changes.
I've just done another film with Jude Law, Eddie Izzard, Lily Cole and Judy Dench - again with almost no budget - it's quality stuff which has attracted everyone, and an original format - I won't say too muh but it's really unusual and will use the internet and mobile phones.
There's an ITV drama out this year, and Channel4 drama written by Charlie Brooker, who I'm a big fan of (The Guardian, Nathan Barley).

Moving to the musical side; when did you first start as an MC?

I was into hip hop through my brother, then garage through the emergence of the London scene, and drum'n'bass through raving with friends. I did my first pirate radio slot at 16, and my first party at around the first time. It seemed to me that the UK MC is well placed to be uniquely diverse, and the range available at that time inspired me.

How do you see yourself as an artist? What are your own motivations?

The same things that drew me towards other careers initially are still what drive me in music and acting. I'm interested in taking on challenging work that interrogates the world around us, and enagages with the issues we face personally and as a society. I've never ben interested in having a successful in a career for it's own sake. My ideal career allows you to affect some change, and reach people in some way.

You have played with some huge names in music – what has been the highlight so far of your musical career?

Supporting Mos Def was a highlight so far - I'm huge fan of his. But his week Massive Attack have asked me to support them and open the Meltdown Festival, so I think that's the new high point.

What are your ambitions for the future?

I'd like to do quality work in music, and as an actor, and break down some boundaries in the process, both in terms of what kind of career is possible for what kind of people, and in terms of the nature of the work I do. I'm interested in taking advantage of the lowered barriers to entering the music and film market (both in terms of set up costs, equipment, and distribution), and so creating my own music and film is something I'd like to explore more in the future.