Oscar-winning actor Riz Ahmed has revealed why he never got a callback when auditioning for both lead and supporting roles in Danny Boyle’s Best Picture Winner Slumdog Millionaire. In his audition, in front of the Oscar-winning director of The Beach, Trainspotting, and 28 Days Later, Ahmed perhaps channeled the volatile older-brother character, Salim Malik, a little too forcefully. “I can’t remember exactly what happened in the audition. But I remember it ended with me… holding Danny Boyle up against the wall,” Ahmed told CBS News. “I’d ripped his shirt open. And a couple of the buttons popped off,” he continued. “And he goes, ‘All right, thanks a lot, Riz. Thanks for coming in. Appreciate that.’” Needless to say, he did not land the role, which eventually went to actor Madhur Mittal. Dev Patel took the lead role of Jamal Malik, which led to his breakout success. Ahmed found his own breakout in 2014’s Nightcrawler and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Lead Actor in 2021 for his performance in Sound of Metal. He won an Academy Award the following year for The Long Goodbye, a short film based on his own rap album. His latest film, Relay, in which he co-stars with Lily James, is in theaters now.
Read it at CBS News
