“I try not to ever say the word sci-fi because it’s in a way, it’s more grounded and realistic than that,” Ahmed tells Parade.com in an exclusive interview about the film. “It’s more urgent and about kind of what’s happening right now.” He adds, “Someone described [it] to me as now-fi, you know, where it’s like the fear of infection and an uncertain world and questionable policing. A lot of that stuff feels dystopian, but it’s happening right now.” Encounter—currently playing in theaters and streaming on Prime Video—rounds out an exciting year for Ahmed. In January, the Sound ofMetal star revealed that he was married to novelist Fatima Farheen Mirza; then in March, he became the first Muslim to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Now he’s closing out 2021 with both Encounter and Flee, an animated documentary that he executive produced—and which is already generating Oscar buzz. Looking ahead at the new year, Ahmed is excited about “building things out.” He says, “Part of the fun of this game is you never know what’s around the corner.” Continue reading to find out what Ahmed had to say about his “roller coaster” year, plus why he thinks moviegoers will be able to connect to his Encounter character…
What drew you to this project and this character?
It was really [director] Michael Pearce. I just loved his last film Beast. I thought it was incredible. I really wanted to work with him. When I found out he was doing this, I was like, ‘Man, do I really play characters like this?’ I wouldn’t think of myself in this role. And that’s when I knew, okay, so I have to do it because I’m pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I’ll probably be pushing audiences and their preconceptions as well. And growing in the process, hopefully. So I really lobbied hard for it. I called him, texted him, got friends to call him. Took him out for lunch. I was like, I really got to do this. I think he found it quite confusing. It’s like ‘Why is this guy stalking me?’ And eventually, he gave me the role so that I’d leave him alone. And I’m glad he did because it was definitely a real kind of growth experience and it was doing a lot of things that I haven’t done before in film, so I’m grateful for that.
You’ve played so many different roles. Do you take them on because you want to grow and learn something new?
Yeah, I try to. Try and think like, what’s scary, you know? What do I feel out of my depth on and if you’re out of your depth and you’re kind of slightly off-balance I think that’s when interesting things happen because you’re not really in control. I think the best creativity is when you’re not really in control of it. It’s like stuff happens and it’s spontaneous and you like don’t really know where that came from. So, I think it’s good to kind of choose things that put you slightly off balance and kind of not quite sure if you can do it. I mean the downside of that is you always watch it back and go like ‘Oh my god, I wish I’d have another crack at it.’ But I guess you should always be slightly chasing your tail in some way.
In what ways were you able to connect, if you could, to your character Malik in Encounter?
I think we can all connect right now to his core driving, you know, kind of motivation, which is to protect his family in a really uncertain world; to protect his family from infection; to protect them from a divided society that forces you to take a side in all the persecution that is going on in this like increasingly polarized world. That is really what is driving Malik. And so I think a lot of people can relate to that. I can certainly relate to that. I think anyone who watches the news or picks up a newspaper or is alive in the world today can relate to some of those feelings. Something that I found trickier to relate to was being a father because I’m not a father. And I found that quite scary and that’s another reason why I wanted to take on the role because I thought it would push me to go to a new place. I was pretty convinced the kids would just laugh at me and be like, ‘Yo, that’s not how you’re a dad. Like you don’t know how to be a dad. Haha, you’re rubbish.’ But then I realized that that’s exactly what Malik is probably afraid of. He’s afraid that he doesn’t know how to be a dad. He hasn’t seen his kids basically since they were babies. And once I realized that there’s that overlap between my insecurities and the character’s insecurities, I thought actually that’s a really useful way in, a useful thing to build off of.
Do you think this movie has now given you experience, prepared you for the day if you become a father?
I don’t know if anything really fully prepares you for that experience. It was beautiful to be able to like just be with those kids [Aditya Geddada and Lucian-River Chauhan]. They’re both such incredible actors. Such kind of glowing kind of spirits, you know, on set. [They] brought a smile to everyone’s face.
You’ve had such an incredible year. You started with your Oscar nom, you revealed that you were married and you’re ending with Encounter and Flee. How would you summarize these past 12 months?
It’s been a real rollercoaster, you know, I think for all of us. It’s been full of unexpected challenges and also hidden gifts and usually, the two things go hand in hand… [It] makes you realize what’s really important to you and make big decisions like getting married or setting up the production company and all that kind of stuff. So probably things that I wouldn’t have done if there hadn’t been the challenge of that first half of the pandemic, you know, losing family members to COVID and really just being forced to sit with myself in a way that I would never have chosen to… I’d just describe it as hopefully some kind of growth.
Did you learn anything about yourself this year?
I am older than I think. Yeah. I’m like 39 now and I just realized… And in my head I’m like, ‘Yeah, you know, me and my brother-in-law, we’re buddies, we’re like the same age’ and he’s like, it’s his birthday as well and he’s like, he’s 23. I was just like, ‘Oh, my God. What’s happening?’ Yeah, so I’m getting old. Hurry up. Get stuff done you want to get done. I think that’s what it is.
That is not old! With 2022 just around the corner, what are you most looking forward to in the new year?
In the New Year, I’m looking forward to not knowing what it brings, to be honest. I’m looking forward to continuing to build out projects with my company. As you said, we’re really proud of the attention that Flee is already getting and how it’s being honored, you know, the awards and stuff. Similarly, with The Long Goodbye a short film, which [has] now become eligible for the Oscars and supporting an incredible filmmaker Aneil Karia with that one. So, I’m excited I guess about building things out. Part of the fun of this game is you never know what’s around the corner.
Are there any goals that you’ve set or things you want to cross off the bucket list next year?
Let me think. I guess I’d like to write and direct something. Yeah. I feel more TV series in the coming years hopefully. So let’s see.
That’d be exciting. Drama? Comedy? Thriller? What’s your preference?
I’m a big comedy fan and I haven’t had the chance to go back and do comedy for a decade now since I did Four Lions. [I] just weirdly kind of went down this rabbit hole of just doing really intense dramas, but so much of my work at the start of my career is comedy. A lot of my rap music was comedy satirical rap. That’s kind of what started my career was doing comedy rap. So I think going back to some stuff like that could be fun. Next, 75 Best Action Movies of All Time
