Oscar winner Riz Ahmed’s family always knew he was destined for stardom, with his mother enrolling him in speech and drama lessons by the ripe age of 8. The British actor jokes that it all started with his impressions of Prince Charles — now King Charles III.

“You’re not gonna ask me to do it now. He’s not the prince; he’s the King,” laughed Ahmed in an interview with CBS News. “Taking a step back, I think that on some level, I was always acting. … From a young age, I was code switching. So I think that was something that was kind of confusing at times as a kid. But you look back and I realize it forced me to develop these muscles.”

Ahmed loves to flex his acting muscles, which he in part developed at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. But his road to success wasn’t always smooth. 

“Worst audition in my life”

His audition for Danny Boyle’s 2008 film “Slumdog Millionaire” is one that often comes to mind. He auditioned for the lead as well as the role of the volatile older brother.

“That was probably the worst audition in my life,” he recalled. 

“I can’t remember exactly what happened in the audition. But I remember it ended with me … holding Danny Boyle up against the wall. And I’d ripped his shirt open. And a couple of the buttons popped off. And he goes, ‘All right, thanks a lot, Riz. Thanks for coming in. Appreciate that.’ I didn’t get the role for some reason,” Ahmed added, jokingly.

His breakout came in 2014 in the film “Nightcrawler.” Three years later, he earned an Emmy playing the suspect in the HBO crime drama “The Night Of.” 

In 2021 he scored his first Oscar nomination playing a drummer who loses hearing in “Sound of Metal.” And a year later, Ahmed, who is also a rapper, won an Academy Award for “The Long Goodbye,” a short film based on his own album.

Cafe meet cute

While he was preparing for his role as Ruben Stone in “Sound of Metal,” he met his wife, New York Times bestselling novelist Fatima Farheen Mirza, in a Brooklyn cafe.

“I was writing a script. I was actually working on the thing that I’m editing now,” Ahmed said. “She sat down opposite and started emptying her whole bag out because she’d lost her charger. You know, I just spotted an opening. ‘Can I help you?'”

The couple got married in 2020 and they’re now parents — a rewarding role Ahmed says has changed him as an artist.

“You know, at this point, anything that I do – as an artist – is facilitated by the support of my wife. So, it’s definitely kind of made me realize the extent to which the people closest to you are actually the co-authors of your work,” said Ahmed, adding that being a father has brought him more gratitude and humility.

While Ahmed was working on his upcoming Amazon comedy “Quarter Life,” the script he was writing in that cafe, his wife helped out in the writer’s room.

“She brought such insight and emotion and, you know, just brilliant ideas to the table,” Ahmed said. “My wife asking me to advise on her novels – maybe not as good an idea.”

New summer thriller

Now Ahmed is gearing up for the release of his new summer thriller, “Relay,” taking on the role as Ash alongside his costar Lily James. Ash brokers payoffs between whistleblowers and corrupt corporations, communicating only through a phone-to-text relay system.

“My character is someone who you call when you’re in trouble, when there’s no one else you can call,” Ahmed said. “I think his superpower is also his biggest weakness. He’s a loner. He lives off the grid.”

“The thing about ‘Relay’ that excites me is it’s similar to the kind of classic films that I loved to watch,” he added. “You know, stuff like ‘Michael Clayton,’ ‘The Conversation.’ These thrillers that keep you on the edge of your seat.”

“Relay,” from director David Mackenzie, is out now in movie theaters.