The 'Nightcrawler' actor enjoys the sound of silence more after playing a drummer who begins to lose his hearing in a new movie called 'Sound of Metal'.
- January 2, 2021
AceShowbiz - Riz Ahmed is learning to appreciate silence in his life after playing a deaf drummer in his new Amazon film, "Sound of Metal".
The actor grew up in a very noisy household and admits he has often found himself running away from quiet moments because he needed sound in his life.
But after facing his fears for the new project, Riz admits he's now looking forward to a more quiet life.
"Growing up in a noisy household with a lot of people in a small house, silence was just not part of my life," he says. "I think I'm someone who kind of runs away from silence. Actually making this film made me realise that and allowing that (silence) into my life a little more."
Ahmed was fitted with inverted hearing aids, which emitted white noise, for his latest role, adding, "They would block out all noise to an extent where I couldn't hear myself."
And he studied deaf people to perfect the role, adding, "I did learn that dinner time with a deaf family is very loud if you're a hearing person because of people banging on tables to get attention for that vibrational communication across the dinner table."
"I hope this film opens people's eyes to some beautiful aspects of deaf culture."
"Sound of Metal" also stars the likes of Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff, and Mathieu Amalric. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year before heading to Amazon streaming service.
