At 24, British Pakistani actor Nabhaan Rizwan has only been acting for six years. After he made his Informer debut, the up-and-coming young actor performed in several movies, plays, and television shows.
“It’s so rare to watch an audition of someone who has no screen acting experience and yet looks like they have been doing it forever,” said Informer’s executive producer.
Now, Rizwan stars as half of a romantic duo in the new British drama The Last Letter From Your Lover. The film premiered on July 23 and is now available to stream on Netflix.
“It’s a refreshing reminder that love is possible,” Rizwan said.
Nabhaan Rizwan debuted in “Informer”
Rizwan made his big screen debut on the 2018 BBC war on terror series Informer. With relatively little experience on the screen or stage, Rizwan scored the main role of Raza. He played a young Muslim man from east London who was coerced into working as an informant for the police.
“It looks at the story from the ground up, with a guy leading a regular life in east London,” Rizwan told Radio Times. “Stereotypes propagate untruth, and often they’re simply boring, which is the last thing you want as a storyteller. So I was very happy and relieved that the writers told the story so sensitively.”
Previously to landing auditions for the Informer, Rizwan completed a few workshops at the Almeida Theatre and Royal Court Theatre in London. He hired an agent who brought him to the part of Raza.
In 2019 Rizwan appeared in the British TV drama The Accident and the British World War I film 1917. In 2020 the young actor was set to perform in the main cast of the upcoming series Station Eleven. The science fiction adaptation follows the aftermath of a flu pandemic. Production of the was paused due to Covid-19.
In 2020 Rizwan played a rapper in the drama film Mogul Mowgli. He appeared as a banker in the The Wolf of Wall Street-inspired series Industry that same year. In spring of 2021 Rizwan performed in London’s West End alongside Emma Corrin in Joseph Charlton’s new play Anna X.
Nabhaan Rizwan comes from an artistic family
The British actor was born in Ilford, a town in Essex County, UK to Pakistani parents. He hails from a family familiar with the screen. Rizwan’s elder brother Mawaan is a comedian, actor, and screenwriter who rose to fame from YouTube. His father worked as a playwright – he met Rizwan’s mother when she auditioned for one of his plays.
Rizwan’s mother Shahnaz tasted fame as a child actress in over 30 Pakistani black and white films. A production company scouted her from his brother’s YouTube skits, in which the whole family was often involved. She ended up returning to acting to star in the Pakistani drama series as Mrs. Bhalla in Yeh Hai Mohabbatein (This is Love) from 2013-2019.
Rizwan initially resisted the pull towards acting and preferred playing cricket. He decided to pursue his family’s talent instead when the time finally came to head off to college.
“It runs in my family pretty deep, so I figured I’d try as much as possible,” he said.
Rizwan has also tried his hand at being a recording artist. He released his first rap EP Fantastic Planet under the pseudonym El Huxley in 2020.
“I’d like to be a recording artist, an actor in films and theatre, write plays and a novel, and get into fashion designing. I want to make great work,” said Rizwan.
Nabhaan Rizwan stars in new Netflix romance
Rizwan stars in the new Netflix romance-mystery drama The Last Letter From Your Lover opposite Felicity Jones. The film is based on Jojo Moyes’ 2012 historical fiction novel from which it took its name.
The Last Letter From Your Lover follows two interwoven love stories set in the present day and in 1965. Rizwan plays the archivist Rory alongside Jones’ role of the journalist Ellie in the modern-day timeline. Their newspaper office discovers secret love letters written to a wealthy industrialist’s wife decades ago. As Ellie deciphers the author’s identity, her own love story with Rory unfolds.
“There’s something about that – when you meet someone and you’re moved by them in a way that you don’t expect to be, it can be quite flirtatious.” Rizwan shares about their characters meeting. “You have a natural curiosity towards that person. I think that’s what happens to Rory.”
The 1965 storyline stars a couple, Joe Alwyn and Divergent’s Shailene Woodley as the wealthy industrialist and his wife. A financial journalist played by Callum Turner features them in an upcoming story.
“It was great to watch the finished product.” Rizwan reflected in an interview. “That [1965] timeline and those beautiful images and scenery added so much to the film. The two worlds complemented each other.”
Watch The Last Letter From Your Lover on Netflix.
