When Riz Ahmed’s first look as Ganesh — the scientist at the centre of Alejandro González Iñárritu and Tom Cruise’s political black comedy Digger, surfaced — Indian audiences were quick to spot a striking resemblance. With his high forehead, pencil moustache, dorky glasses and neatly groomed appearance, Ahmed’s Ganesh bore an uncanny resemblance to... Malayalam superstar Fahadh Faasil.
But the coincidence goes deeper than appearance. Ironically, Faasil had auditioned for the same role in 2025 and spoken with Iñárritu about the part, but ultimately, it wasn't meant to be. Adding another layer to the connection, in Digger, Ganesh’s family is revealed to be from Kerala!
During a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, Ahmed was asked if he was aware of the comparisons with Faasil, which had become a talking point among Indian audiences.
“Oh wow… It's interesting because the reason I chose Kerala (as a place of origin) was because of the surname Ganesh and how that's more common in South Indian immigrants as well, and how that can often get assigned as a family name amongst those communities,” he said.
“I also wanted the connection to the sea and that kind of stuff in his heritage, since he's interested in the environment and the oceans,” Ahmed added.
But there was one part of the Indian conversation around his character that Ahmed was not aware of.
“I’m not familiar with Fahadh Faasil’s films, but I'm going to make sure to check out his work now. I know that there's such an incredible industry in South India with so many stars... I always want to kind of watch more movies from India and see what's going on there,” he said.
Reportedly, the Digger team met with several actors across countries, before finalising on Riz Ahmed to take on the role of Ganesh.
Faasil had previously opened up about his audition for the project, revealing that while his meeting with Iñárritu went well, the filmmaker had concerns about his American accent. Faasil said he was asked to spend three to four months in the U.S. working on it.
“To perfect the accent, I was told to go to the US and stay there for three or four months. But they weren’t ready to pay for that. That’s why I skipped it. Otherwise, I would have gone running,” Faasil said. “The commercial aspects of it wouldn’t have worked out. Also, to bother so much for an accent, I didn’t feel that kind of fire for it.”
In Digger, Ahmed plays Ganesh, one of the few people trusted by Cruise’s oil magnate Digger Rockwell. Rockwell’s company has triggered an ecological disaster with consequences that could potentially escalate into a nuclear conflict, leaving Ganesh among those tasked with helping contain the fallout.
The Kerala connection was just one part of the extensive thought that went into creating Ganesh. Ahmed also spoke about working with Iñárritu, whose willingness to constantly experiment extended to the character’s appearance. From the prosthetics and hair to the glasses, facial hair and costume, the filmmakers spent days crafting Ganesh’s look.
“We spent a lot of time working on the looks, the prosthetics, the hair, the glasses, the facial hair and the costume. When we finally got to a place where we felt it was good, after days and days and countless hours of crafting it, we photographed him and said, ‘I think this is good.’
“He (Iñárritu) was like, ‘Yeah, I think this is good.’ Then he said, ‘Now let’s do the total opposite. We’ve seen that. Now let’s go to the complete opposite.’”
Ahmed laughs as he recalls returning a week later after reworking Ganesh’s appearance. “He is someone who embraces exploration and really encourages that process of not knowing and discovery. And that can be really disorienting because a lot of people don’t do that. It’s scary and risky, but it’s also very invigorating."
“But you can see the results in his movies, where everything feels so alive and so committed.”
Digger will hit theatrical screens in India on October 2, 2026.