Riz Ahmed Reveals the 'Corny' Way He Proposed to Now-Wife Fatima Farheen Mirza

David M. Benett/Getty; Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Riz Ahmed has a way with words.

On Monday, the Oscar nominee, 38. appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live where he opened up about the "corny" way he used the game Scrabble to propose to his now-wife Fatima Farheen Mirza.

The Sound of Metal star, who revealed in January that he and Mirza had recently tied the knot, said his wife thought the actor was "joking" when he first popped the question.

"We went out to the park, one of the few things we could do at that point in lockdown, and we kind of had a little picnic and you know, I popped the question," Ahmed told host Jimmy Kimmel. "And she looked up and was like, 'You're joking.' "

"Maybe the way I proposed didn't help because she's a novelist, she's amazing with words," he continued.

RELATED: Riz Ahmed on His 'Super Intimate' Wedding and the 'Modern Way' He Met Wife Fatima Farheen Mirza

"She loves a bit of Scrabble. So we were actually playing Scrabble and I did that corny thing where I stole all the correct letters up and spelled out 'Will you marry me?' " Ahmed explained.

Back in January, the actor shared additional details about his recent nuptials and the sweet story behind how he met Mirza.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

During an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Ahmed said that the pair met "randomly" in New York while he was preparing for his role in Sound of Metal.

"We just both sat down at the same table in a cafe, where we both turned up to write," he explained. "We were both jostling over the same laptop plug points, like a very modern way of meeting."

RELATED: Riz Ahmed Reveals He Got Married 'Not Very Long' Ago

Ahmed said the two quickly "struck up a friendship" and later "reconnected down the line."

"But it's weirdly one of the many things about preparing for this role that was so special. It just brought a lot of goodness into my life," he gushed.

Stefanie Keenan/Getty Riz Ahmed

The Night Of star, who is originally from England, also shared that the pair got married in a backyard wedding with "hardly anyone there."

"It was kind of interesting doing it with COVID and everything going on, obviously kept it super intimate and socially distant," he said.

The Emmy winner joked that a benefit to keeping the wedding small was that he didn't have "500 aunties around you pinching your cheeks."

"No disrespect to the aunties, but Asian weddings are big. You always got these people crawling out of the woodworks who I think are probably imposters," he teased. "They just smell the kebabs on the street and just wander in."