Communication is key in tense new thriller 'Relay'

Academy Award-winner Riz Ahmed does a lot of typing in his latest film, the tense thriller "Relay." And when we asked the actor about his average WPM (that’s words per minute, of course), he answered with a question of his own.

"Are you suggesting that my typing didn’t look real?"

Not at all, sir. Not at all.

Ahmed plays a super-secretive "fixer" in the film, a kind of middleman who brokers deals between corrupt corporations and would-be whistleblowers. Maintaining secrecy means the character uses a telecommunications relay service in which his typed communication is read over the phone by a third party.

"I’m going to be really honest with you, okay? I’m a one-finger typer. I’m out here like Granddad, hammering the keyboard," Ahmed said. "I was so bad that [director David Mackenzie] actually said, ‘I really need you to take a touch-typing course.’"

Co-star Lily James didn’t need to type her dialogue, but she does spend a lot of screen time with a phone pressed to her ear — which presented its own set of challenges.

"I actually requested and wanted to have someone really speaking on the phone, because it’s so key," says James. "The problem was, then, there were some issues with the mic. The mic would pick up the voice of the person on the phone."

"Relay" also stars Sam Worthington and Willa Fitzgerald, and was filmed on-location in and around New York. It’s out in theaters nationwide today from Bleecker Street.