For Riz Ahmed, Life is a Spy Thriller

The Journal.

The Wall Street Journal

News, Daily News, Business News

4.2 • 5.8K Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2026

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sometimes, actor Riz Ahmed says, his life feels like a spy thriller. He made his new show, “Bait,” about that feeling, and sat down with Jessica Mendoza at our Journal Live show in Los Angeles to talk about it. The actor, known for blockbusters like “Star Wars: Rogue One” and his Oscar-nominated performance in “Sound of Metal,” also spoke about his career, what it takes to succeed in Hollywood and getting the rights to a famous spy for his show. Further Listening: - Financial Influencers on Wealth and Work - Kathy Hochul on Mamdani, Trump and Where Democrats Went Wrong Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Riz Ahmed is an actor, rapper, and movie producer.
0:08.7	You may know him from Star Wars Rogue One,
0:11.5	The Sound of Metal, which got him nominated for an Academy Award,
0:14.9	or the TV show Bate.
0:17.2	This conversation was filmed at our journal live event in Los Angeles last month.
0:21.6	You can watch the interview on Spotify.
0:23.6	It's got some fun moments you might want to see.
0:26.6	Hey everyone, how you doing?
0:29.6	Riz, I'm so glad you are here to join us for this live taping of the journal podcast.
0:35.6	I'm really glad to be here.
0:36.6	We've got to do one more thing.
0:38.2	Are you ready?
0:39.6	Are you guys ready?
0:41.6	Amazing.
0:42.2	All right, cue the theme.
0:50.4	Live from the L-ray Theater in Los Angeles, welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power.
0:57.4	I'm Jessica Mendoza.
0:59.5	Coming up on the show, Riz Ahmed on making Hollywood work for him.
1:05.6	Thank you. This is your latest project.
1:17.6	It's heavy with information, data, and exactly 36 pages of waffle.
1:24.6	But with Acrobat Studio, you can create a PDF space,
1:29.3	an AI-powered workspace that turns documents into summaries and insights
	...

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