March 10 (UPI) -- Riz Ahmed discussed learning sign language for his film Sound of Metal and what he learned from the deaf community along the way on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Ahmed spent seven months learning American Sign Language for his lead role in Sound of Metal, where he portrays a heavy metal drummer who begins to lose his hearing.
"The biggest takeaway for me was that deafness isn't a disability -- it's a culture. It's a way of being in the world. Deaf people aren't hearing impaired. We're impaired because we don't speak sign language," the actor said on Tuesday.
"Sign language is such a rich form of expression. I actually feel like the deaf community taught me the true meaning of listening. You know, listening isn't something you just do with your ears, it's something you do with your attention and your energy and holding space for someone else's energy," he continued.
Ahmed also had to learn the drums for Sound of Metal, which he said was harder to learn then American Sign Language despite also being a rapper.
"I stupidly thought I would be good at the drums because I'm a rapper and I've got some idea of rhythm. Couldn't have been further from the truth. There is a difference between rhythm and coordination," he said.
Sound of Metal is available on Amazon Prime Video.
