"we struck up a friendship and reconnected down the line."
After much speculation, popular actor Riz Ahmed has revealed that his new wife is bestselling author Fatima Farheen Mirza.
Earlier in January 2021, the 38-year-old actor had disclosed that he had tied the knot “not very long” ago.
Riz had disclosed that he decided to stay in California after completing a film there since his “wife’s family” is from the Bay Area.
The Mogul Mowgli actor had dropped the bombshell on unsuspecting fans in an episode of the podcast Grounded with Louis Theroux.
The revelation caught everyone off guard, including host Louis Theroux who “didn’t realise” Riz Ahmed wasn’t single.
The British actor elaborated that he didn’t think his personal life was relevant to the work he did.
Startled by the news of his marriage, fans shared some hilarious reactions on Twitter.
riz ahmed is married…pic.twitter.com/jpS7UHrp6T
— sageypoo (@aftrxhcurs) January 11, 2021
Riz elaborated: “I mean, I guess I don’t really feel it’s generally that relevant, so I don’t delve into my personal life or my dating history or even family life much.”
Following his podcast interview, Riz further opened up about his married life on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on January 13, 2021.
He said: “She’s an amazing novelist. We met so randomly while I was preparing for this role, for Sound Of Metal when I was in New York.
“We both sat down at the same table in the cafe where we both turned up to write.
“We were both jostling over the same laptop plug points, like a very modern way of meeting.
“And we struck up a friendship and reconnected down the line.
“But it’s weirdly like one of the many things about preparing for this role that was so special, it just brought a lot of goodness into my life.”
In his latest film, Sound of Metal, due to be released in January 2021, Riz Ahmed plays a drummer who loses his hearing.
He added: “Obviously, I met Fatima for the first time and met so many people in the deaf community that have become friends.
“There’s just something about this whole period around this film that was kind of life-changing.”
The star emphasised that the wedding was “socially distanced” with very few guests.
He said: “Obviously, kept it super intimate, and socially distanced. There was just like, hardly anyone there really.
“We did it in a backyard, which is nice in lots of ways.
“I think the nicest thing about it was you didn’t have 500 aunties hanging around you, pinching your cheeks.”
Mirza’s debut novel A Place For Us became a New York Times bestseller when it was published in 2018.
It was the first book published by Sarah Jessica Parker’s publishing imprint SJP for Hogarth.
The story follows an Indian-Muslim family awaiting their eldest daughter’s wedding, a match made through love rather than tradition.
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