Ahmed spent years trying to 'change the furniture in other people's rooms' — popping up in big IP films to stretch culture from within. Then he asked a different question: what if he built his own rooms? That pivot gave us Sound of Metal, Mogul Mowgli, and Bait.
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At 13:00 · chapter starts 12:35
Mendoza gently confronts Ahmed with the fact that he hasn't appeared in a big-budget blockbuster since Venom in 2018 — is that opportunity, choice, or something else? Ahmed doesn't flinch. Around 2017, he was on a mission he'd set for himself: pop up in big pre-existing stories and change the furniture from within. He believed — and still does — that stories can transport you to a world you've never visited and let you recognise yourself in a stranger. That's how culture stretches. But somewhere along the way, a different question emerged: what if I build the rooms myself? What if I tell my own stories? The freedom to control casting, genre, narrative approach — to tell stories that speak to the specificity of his own experience rather than be corralled into dry documentary realism — became the point. Sound of Metal, Mogul Mowgli, Hamlet, Bait: all evidence of what happened when he took the mask off. [1] — Riz Ahmed "Ahmed spent years trying to 'change the furniture in other people's rooms' — popping up in big IP films to stretch culture from within. The…" 13:00
Since playing the villain Carlton Drake in Venom (2018) opposite Tom Hardy, Riz Ahmed has deliberately stepped away from big-budget blockbusters to tell more personal stories.
Nobody is the Queen of England, yet millions identified with The Crown. Nobody is a Goodfellas gangster, yet Scorsese's film is universal. Specificity signals authenticity, and authenticity is what audiences actually connect with.
Steven Pressfield's insight: don't wait for the commitment to feel real before acting like a professional. Set up the studio. Make the schedule. Show up. Commitment doesn't precede action — it follows it. You act like a pro first, and your brain catches up with justifications after. The action is the commitment.
Robby Hoffman isn't fearless — she's terrified all the time. The difference is she does it anyway, because not doing it feels worse than the fear itself.
John Mulaney texted Robby Hoffman out of nowhere saying he'd been a fan for a while and wanted to make a Netflix special with her. Robby called it 'shocking, horrifying, anxiety-inducing, surreal and thrilling' — and said yes.
Mulaney is buttoned-up, suit-wearing, classy. Robby is gritty, raw, and undefined. Together they made the collab nobody expected. Batman and Robin. Eminem and Dido.
Music had Pope Gregory forcing notation. Comedy has had 'magical thinking' — he's just got funny bones. But jokes work through discoverable, teachable mechanics. Writing down the rules doesn't kill the magic; it gives more people access to it.
Howard Ashman had one insight nobody else had: animated Disney films should be Broadway musicals. The third song of every great musical is the character sitting alone explaining what they want. That's 'Part of Your World.' That structure — combined with Alan Menken's compositions — generated Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, and turned Disney Animation into the most profitable creative engine in entertainment history.
The Lion King musical has been running for 30 years across Broadway, London's West End, and global touring companies. It has grossed over $11 billion in total revenue — more than Avatar, more than Avengers: Endgame, more than any album, more than any video game. It generates an average of $350 million in revenue every single year. Disney owns it outright.
The anonymous French artist Invader has hidden 1,500 pixelated mosaic artworks across Paris alone, with thousands more scattered across 80+ cities — affixed to the Eiffel Tower, the Hollywood sign, and even sent to the International Space Station. He might be even busier than Banksy.
The Flash Invaders app turns city streets into a treasure hunt, letting players scan Invader's hidden mosaics for points. Players have collectively logged over 47 million flashes. Unlike most mobile games that glue you to a screen, this one forces you to look up and engage with your surroundings.
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