British actor and musician Riz Ahmed is currently on a press run to promote his forthcoming film, Venom. In his various appearances, Riz has opened up about how integral rap has been to his life.
Along with his acting career, Riz is one-half of the Swet Shop Boys and maintains a solo rap career. Just recently, he told Jimmy Kimmel that he used rap to maneuver his way out of a difficult situation in his native country, Pakistan. While on an island off the coast of Karachi, Ahmed and his friends were approached by army officers who informed them that they were on a naval base, and were facing detention because they were foreign passport holders. Ahmed was able to recall the fact that “poets are held in such high esteem” in Pakistan, and impressed the officers with his rhymes securing freedom for himself and his friends.
During his appearance on The Late Late Show, Ahmed and James Corden discussed Eminem's recent addition to the soundtrack for Venom. When Corden asked the actor whether he was a fan of the Missouri rapper he responded, “Huge, huge Eminem fan. I mean, he just changed rap for me." Riz went on to share an amusing anecdote in which he accidentally used his parents' wedding VHS to record one of Slim Shady's performances revealing, “I just put it in and recorded that video. It was only later that I realized I taped over my parent's wedding video.” Ahmed finished the story by assuring the crowd that only a small amount of his parents' wedding footage was lost in the trade - in fact, the loss was so insignificant, Riz neglected to mention the mishap. “They didn’t know until now, so hopefully they don’t watch this,” he quipped. “Mommy, Baba, I’m really sorry, it’s Eminem’s fault.”
Catch a clip of Rizwan on The Late Late Show below.
