Riz Ahmed may have jokingly called his role in Prime Video’s satirical series Bait an “official audition” for James Bond, but the actor has now landed another coveted part. In Alejandro Inarritu’s upcoming satire Digger, Ahmed plays Ganesh, a scientist and key adviser to Tom Cruise’s eccentric oil tycoon character, Digger Rockwell.

Riz Ahmed on Indian actors he wants to work with

The role had reportedly attracted interest from several Indian actors, including Malayalam star Fahadh Faasil and Vir Das. While Fahadh passed on the part after the filmmaker felt his accent did not fit the character, an Indian-American, Das auditioned twice but ultimately did not make the cut. When speaking to SCREEN, Ahmed had a simple message for the two actors, “Sorry. Thank you for your incredible work, and I hope we get to work together.”