Photo: Screenshot/Television Academy on YouTube 69th Emmys Thank You Cam: Riz Ahmed From The Night Of
British-Pakistani Riz Ahmed has won an Emmy award for best actor in a limited series or a television movie on Sunday night for his performance in “The Night Of.”
Ahmed is the first Muslim actor, as well as the first South-Asian to take home the award for Outstanding Lead Actor at a glittering ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday night that was telecast live.
“I want to say it is always strange reaping the rewards of a story that’s based on real world suffering, but if this show has shown a light on some of the prejudice in our societies, Islamophobia, some of the injustice in our justice system, then maybe that is something,” he said on stage.
The story is about a Pakistani-American college student, Nasir Khan — “Naz” — who borrows his father’s taxi cab to attend a party. But he has a change of plans when an attractive, mysterious young white woman asks for a ride. Initially reluctant, but then Naz agrees to go to her apartment for drug-fueled partying. Things take a gruesome turn when Naz wakes up to find the woman brutally stabbed to death. With no recollection of what happened, he flees the scene — but it’s not long before Naz is arrested for murder.
In winning the coveted award, Riz Ahmed edged out Benedict Cumberbatch from Sherlock: The Lying Detective, Robert De Niro from The Wizard of Lies, Ewan McGregor from Fargo, Geoffrey Rush from Genius and John Turturro from The Night Of.
“Wow. This is a tremendous honor to be recognized along so many actors who I’ve watched for so long,” Ahmed, the first-time winner, said in his acceptance speech.
“If this show has shown a light on some of the prejudice in our society, some of the injustice in our justice system, then maybe that’s something.”
Ahmed also honored the late James Gandolfini, one of the series’ executive producers who died in 2013 (and was set to star in the show in the role fellow nominee John Turturro eventually played).
“He’s a man who I believe single-handedly changed television and I hope he’s proud of us.”
