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The next James Bond? Riz Ahmed’s Bait dives into one man’s desperate quest for fame
Riz Ahmed’s sharp comedy on Prime Video explores identity and ambition as a Pakistani-British actor risks everything for a Bond role
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Over the last decade or so, Riz Ahmed has become an actor who was reason enough to give a film or a television series a look.
Also a rapper, Ahmed won the Emmy Award for outstanding lead actor in a limited series or movie for his work in the excellent 2016 HBO miniseries The Night Of and earned an Academy Award nomination for best actor for the engrossing 2019 drama Sound of Metal.
Now comes Bait, a solid half-hour comedy series in which he not only stars but also serves as an executive producer and is credited as a co-producer with Ben Karlin.
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Debuting with all of the season’s six episodes on Prime Video on March 25, Bait is interested in what a person will do – what they would risk and how they may compromise their integrity and values – for a big prize.
In the series, Ahmed portrays a London-based actor of Pakistani background who, desperate to win a big role, suffers an existential crisis. When we meet Ahmed’s Shah Latif, things appear to be going quite well for him. He seems to be … James Bond?
Dressed to the nines, he coolly takes a drink as an attractive woman holds a gun on him.
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