Mawaan Rizwan (born 18 August 1992) is a Pakistani-born British actor and comedian who began his career as a YouTuber.

Early life

Rizwan was born in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

; his mother, Shahnaz, was one of nine siblings and had starred in a number of black and white Pakistani films. As his mother desired a better life for Mawaan and his sister, they

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1994. Six years later, at the age of eight, Rizwan and his family were threatened with deportation, but were granted indefinite leave to remain after legal battles and protests for the family's immigration rights.

Career

Rizwan started making YouTube videos at the age of 16. The attention he received for these resulted in him gaining roles on various television and streaming programming. In 2013 he began starring in the BAFTA award nominated series ''DNN: Definitely Not Newsround'', a spoof news comedy series for children. In 2015 he starred in

Disney XD UK Disney XD (formerly Fox Kids Network, Fox Kids and Jetix) was a British and Irish pay television channel. First launching in October 1996, it originated from the United States block of the same name, and was operated under a joint-venture bet ...

series ''Mega Awesome Super Hacks'' alongside Oli White and

Jimmy Hill James William Thomas Hill, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including player, trade union leader, coach, manager, director ...

. In 2015, Rizwan travelled to

, his country of birth, to film the documentary ''How Gay Is Pakistan?'' which explores the issues faced by other LGBTQ Muslims living under Islamic law that deems

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

illegal. The documentary was televised internationally, including on ABC2 in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, CBC in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and in various markets via

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

. Rizwan's career in stand-up comedy began in 2010 when he performed his first gig at a basement venue in

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester ...

. He performed at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

, with his 2018 and 2019 performances gaining positive reviews from critics. In 2018, Rizwan participated in a charity benefit event called Choose Laughs? at the Playhouse Theatre to support the NGO

Help Refugees Choose Love (formerly Help Refugees) is a UK-based non-governmental organization (NGO) which provides humanitarian aid to, and advocacy for, refugees around the world. In 2016, it became the largest grassroots distributor of aid in Europe. Choo ...

. In April 2019, Rizwan released his first two singles – "I've Got a New Walk" and "Mango" – with a third single, "Never Been Skiing", released in September. In 2020, Rizwan starred in the

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

comedy series '' Two Weeks to Live''.

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

named Rizwan one of their '30 under 30' movers for their 2020 list, after recognition for being a writer on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series ''

Sex Education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual acti ...

'' as well as his role in BBC Three drama ''

Murdered by My Father ''Murdered by My Father'' is a British drama television film written by Vinay Patel, directed by Bruce Goodison and produced by Toby Welch, and starring Adeel Akhtar and Kiran Sonia Sawar, that first aired on BBC One in March 2016. The drama te ...

'' and opening for '' Queer Eye's''

Jonathan Van Ness Jonathan McDonald Van Ness (born March 28, 1987), also commonly referred to by his initials JVN, is an American hairstylist, podcast host and television personality. He is best known as the grooming expert on the Netflix series '' Queer Eye'', ...

on tour. In September 2020 he appeared in ''Jonathan Ross's Comedy Club'' as co-host. Also in 2020, he appeared in the 10th series of '' Taskmaster'', finishing 3rd. In September 2023, '' Juice'' was released – a BBC Three surreal comedy series which Rizwan starred in, wrote, and co-produced. The series is based upon Rizwan's 2018 Edinburgh Fringe show of the same name. Rizwan's mother and brother also appeared in ''Juice'' as the family of Rizwan's character, Jamma.

Personal life

Rizwan is gay, having come out to his traditional Muslim parents at the age of 24. In 2014, he appeared alongside his mother, Shahnaz, in a YouTube video which resulted in his mother gaining the attention of

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

and eventually landing a role in the Indian television series '' Yeh Hai Mohabbatein (This Is Love)''. Mawaan's brother, Nabhaan, also followed the family into a career in acting with his debut in BBC drama series ''

Informer An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informan ...

''.

Filmography

Television

Film

Screenwriter

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rizwan, Mawaan Living people 1992 births Actors from Ilford British LGBT film directors English gay actors English gay writers English LGBT comedians English Muslims English television presenters Gay comedians Gay Muslims LGBT people from London LGBT YouTubers Male actors from Lahore Male actors from London Pakistani emigrants to England Pakistani gay actors Pakistani gay writers Pakistani LGBT comedians 21st-century Pakistani LGBT people 21st-century Pakistani writers 21st-century English LGBT people 21st-century English writers English male comedians Comedians from London