Netflix Is About to Make Riz Ahmed's Dreams Come True

Riz Ahmed is having one helluva year. The man is still fresh from winning that Emmy for The Night Of, was just cast in the upcoming Venom spinoff (yes, about the Spiderman villain), and is starring in the upcoming indie The Sisters Brothers alongside Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly. And now the actor is set to portray one of the most iconic characters in literary history: Hamlet.

Last night Deadline announced that Ahmed is in negotiations with Netflix to pick up his own adaptation of the Shakespeare play, which will be set in a modern-day London “of economic and political uncertainty.”

This is a big deal not only because OMG RIZ AHMED AS HAMLET, but also because Ahmed has mentioned that Hamelt would be a dream role (though I’m sure every somewhat serious actor considers Hamlet the ultimate role).

If you’d like to get a little sneak peak of what we might be in for, last year, the Guardian asked a bunch of actors to recite monologues and soliloquies from Shakespeare productions. Here’s Riz as Edmund from King Lear:

(He’s saying “wherefore base” not “whifflebass.” I was confused for a moment.)

This post previously stated Ahmed was in negotiations over the role of Hamlet.