Mawaan Rizwan is a Pakistani-born British actor, screenwriter, and comedian. He wrote for Netflix’s hit series Sex Education and opened for Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness on tour.
Forbes named him in their 2020 “30 under 30” to watch list. He was the only comedian mentioned alongside big names including Lewis Capaldi and Cara Delevingne.
This year BBC honored Rizwan with the first award of its kind. As a recipient of the Young People’s Comedy Laureate award, the upcoming actor and comedian will spearhead BBC youth outreach and manage this year’s comedy festival.
Mawaan Rizwan rises to fame from YouTube
At 16 years old, Rizwan taught himself how to use a camcorder to upload humorous videos to YouTube. The channel gathered nearly eight million views a year after he started posting skits with his family. This led to television and streaming programming roles – for both him and his mother.
In 2013 the young actor began starring in the children’s comedy series DNN: Definitely Not Newsround. Two years later, he starred in the Disney XD UK series Mega Awesome Super Hacks.
In 2015 Rizwan travelled back to his native country to film How Gay is Pakistan?. The documentary follows LGBTQ Muslims and their challenges living under Islamic law that prohibits homosexuality. It was around this time that Rizwan came out as gay to his traditional Muslim parents at 24 years old.
In 2010 Rizwan performed the first gig of his stand-up comedy career. He’s performed at venues such as Leicester Square and the Playhouse Theatre in London, as well as Scotland’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Rizwan played the role of Imi on the heavy British drama Murdered by My Father which aired in 2016. He stars in the 2020 British comedy series Two Weeks to Live alongside Game of Thrones actress Maisie Williams. In September of that year, he co-hosted the UK comedy show Jonathan Ross’ Comedy Club. In October he finished third in the tenth series of the British game show Taskmaster.
Mawaan Rizwan launched his mom’s Bollywood career
Rizwan was born in Lahore, Pakistan in August 1992. In 1994 he immigrated to London with his mother and sister, with his father following behind years later. It was after the family attained their citizenship that he discovered YouTube and Rizwan’s mother Shahnaz landed a career in Bollywood TV.
“In 2013, I got a call from a producer in India saying that she was casting a lead role in a prime-time TV series.” Rizwan wrote in a New York Times column. “‘Here we go,’ I thought. ‘Finally, Bollywood’s calling.’ The producer clarified. ‘No, we don’t want you,’ she said. ‘We want your mother.’”
Rizwan helped his mother film and send in audition tapes. Shahnaz accepted the role of Mrs. Bhalla in the Indian TV series Yeh Hai Mohabbatein (This Is Love) a few months later.
Of course, Shahnaz already had some experience as an actress as a child. She quit as she reached her teenage years due to the cultural stigma around being a young female performer.
“She was one of nine siblings and her family had very little money.” Rizwan explained. “Her dad sold film reels to studios, and one day when a child actor dropped out of a movie, he suggested my mom as a replacement. At age 3 she made her film debut. Over the next decade, she told me, she went on to star in more than 30 black-and-white Pakistani films. By 12, she was supporting her family with her earnings.”
Rizwan’s brother, Nabhaan Rizwan, is also an actor. He made his debut on the series Informer and now stars in Netflix’s new movie The Last Letter From Your Lover.
BBC honors Mawaan Rizwan with new Comedy Award
BBC’s new award, the Young People’s Comedy Laureate, celebrates comedy as an art form. The aim is to inspire young talent to write and perform.
“I’m so flattered and honoured to be the first Comedy Laureate,” Rizwan said. “The bit I’m most excited about is finding the next generation of comedy talent who wouldn’t otherwise get a shot at this. There are still so many under-represented voices and I can’t wait to hear from them!”
“Mawaan will hold this position for a year and will oversee a number of projects, including shaping and informing the outreach programme in schools, spearheading the under-18 category of the New Comedy Awards, and curating the inaugural BBC Comedy Festival,” says the BBC.
This year’s BBC New Comedy Awards, running since 1995, will have two new categories: Young Comic for those under 18 and Digital Comedian for creators making content online. Rizwan will be the Head Judge for the awards. Local celebrity judges will join him at each competition location to select winners.
Watch Mawaan Rizwan’s How Gay is Pakistan? here.
