16
17
Film
Summer
2013
out there and how diverse it is and the
massive disconnect between that talent
pool and formal drama education. A lot of
that is inequality of opportunity and I am
committed to help equalise this somehow
– currently we are trying to work on a new
funding strategy.
The second project is trying to set up
the UK’s first gang rehabilitation clinic.
There is a gang problem in London and
in many inner cities in the UK, similar
to the US, but we don’t want it to get as
bad as there, and it’s getting worse. In
the context of the lack of public provision
– which most youths rely on, be it youth
clubs, health services or education
services – we need to try and find a way
to treat gangsterism as though it were
an illness, as though it were an epidemic
and not just criminalise it – get into gang
rehabilitation – in a similar way to drug
re-habilitation. So I’m interested in this
clinic run by an amazing guy called Karl
Lokko who is an ex-gang leader himself.
Do you feel a pressure to be a
spokesman? When something
happens that affects British Muslims
do you get the BBC on the phone as
if you’re Mr Rent-a-Quote? How do
you feel about that?
I felt it a lot more 2005/07 when there was
that ugly climate of xenophobia, and the
spotlight was on the war, and the terror
thing was really intense. It is much less
now, but I did feel pressure to do that. I
also realise there are other people whose
job it is to work in this area and it is right
they should be given that voice and that
platform rather than someone who’s just
better known but is not a specialist in
that area. You’ve got to have faith that the
person whose burning need is to talk will
do it, but I don’t feel you should step up to
do something because you feel like, “Well,
I guess I should” – you have to want to.
You’ve got charisma. One of the
things that goes with that territory
is that you polarise people – like
at MTS people either loved you or
hated you. But as an actor you have
to embody emotional experiences that
the broadest spectrum of people can
relate to. How have you learned to
manage your Rizness – the charisma
that polarises?
Watching you do it so badly at Taylors’
definitely helped! (Laughter) I think I
Riz as Mack the Knife in the
Threepenny Opera at MTS (1999)
I think sometimes
the transition is
what you kick
against. I think
sometimes there
could be a sense
of confusion and
a sense of not
fitting in
have changed. As I’ve got older I listen
more and talk a little less than maybe I
did before. Maybe I am not as polarised
as the person I was. I do think that I have
evolved and have mellowed a bit as I’ve
got older, maybe I’m not as polarising
as I was, but then – I wouldn’t want to be
boring! (smile)
You’re Asian from a Muslim
background, but at root aren’t you
simply this generation’s incarnation
of a certain radical conscience that
Britain’s public schools have always
produced? Do you think in some
indefinable way there’s a British
public school spirit that people like
you embody?
I think that being at a school like MTS
and not being able to afford to be there,
for example, yet being welcomed in and
accepted in and nourished – I think it
does give you a sense of the importance
of giving people opportunities they may
not otherwise have had and I think that is
an aspect of my schooling that I am very
proud of and glad to be associated with.
Given that we withdrew several
years ago the financial advantages
associated with scholarships and put
it all into Bursaries, we are now at the
stage where more and more children
are coming from less advantaged
backgrounds. More OMTs are
prepared to give for bursaries than for
building projects. What would your
message be to those kids who arrive
at the school today and tomorrow?
I think sometimes the transition is what
you kick against. I think sometimes there
could be a sense of confusion and a sense
of not fitting in. But I would say this:
if you don’t feel like you fit in you can
either say to yourself you are not wanted
here or you can say “hang on a minute, I
am unique and can bring a fresh energy
to this place and help redefine and
rejuvenate it. The future looks like me”.
If you are different you are change, so
embrace yourself and what you bring to
the table and don’t walk away.
If you are interested in supporting
any of the charities Riz is working
with, please get in touch via
Concordia –
