‘Bait’ is real: Riz Ahmed Says British Intelligence Tried to Recruit Him Three Times
Courtesy of Mike Marsland / WireImage.
Riz Ahmed has said British intelligence services attempted to recruit him on three separate occasions, with one approach allegedly involving a senior figure at the BBC.
The 43-year-old Oscar-winning actor described the incidents as “slightly ridiculous” and “inherently comedic” during an interview with journalist Mehdi Hasan on his media platform Zeteo.
Ahmed said the first incident happened after he returned to Britain following work on his first film, The Road to Guantánamo. He said he and others had landed at Luton airport in a celebratory mood when he was taken into a side room.
According to Ahmed, he was put in an arm lock, threatened with having his arm broken, and had his phone taken from him.
“One was when I came back from my first film, ‘The Road to Guantánamo,’ we landed at Luton airport celebrating,” Ahmed said. “They took me into a side room, put me in an arm lock, threatened to break my arm, took my phone, were pretending to bash the buttons, accidentally changed the language to Danish, and then kind of like, were like: ‘Did you become an actor to further the Muslim struggle?’ I was like: ‘This is hilarious.’ And then when I finished that, they were like: ‘OK. Would you like to keep an eye out for us, cause it was really great the way you were answering those questions?’ No thank you.
The actor said the second approach came through a family friend, which made him realise what was happening. Ahmed claimed the third attempt involved “someone senior, high up at the BBC”. He added that the person had recently left the corporation, but did not identify them.
During the conversation, Hasan asked how viewers could know Ahmed had not accepted any offers to work with the security services. Ahmed joked that it would make a “sick biopic if I was actually a fed.”
Ahmed, who is known for films including ‘Four Lions’ and ‘Sound Of Metal,’ won an Oscar in 2022 for the short film ‘The Long Goodbye.’ In 2017, he won an Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a limited series or movie for his role in ‘The Night Of.’
Look like his 2026 hit Prime Video show ‘Bait’ wasn’t too far fetched with his spy recruitment storyline.
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