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Jacqueline Tsang

My cat is not a fan of Rami Malek. I know this because the resurgence of the coronavirus has us back working from home, so I’m in the sadly ever more common position of doing a Zoom interview with the Egyptian-American actor, and my cat hisses every time he speaks.
Luckily, Malek doesn’t seem to notice.
“It’s been a nice time,” he says of the lockdown, which has spawned waves of questionable online creativity as people have tried to get used to a new normal within four walls. “It’s a very rare opportunity to pause and take a step back from the usual momentum of life.”

Malek is certainly doing that, explaining that he has been trying to make the most of the time by reading and going for walks.
“I’m trying to distance myself from the technological world for a moment,” says the little box on my screen.
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Malek is far from the only one having to adapt to a changing world, of course. The prevalence and surging popularity of streaming services, coupled with the ennui of lockdown, has led to an overnight evolution in the way we watch movies and television. Nevertheless, the 39-year-old actor still sees the charm in traditional visual storytelling, and holds out hope that we will happily swap our smaller screens one day for the big silver one again.
“There is a place and time for all of these things and we’ll always continue to adapt,” he says. “One thing I do crave and always will, is the cinema experience, and I look forward to its inevitable return. There’s just something uniquely special about it, it’s a transcendent experience and something that is so ingrained in our past … I think that’s something we will always cherish.”

Film launches have been few and far between this year, but one potential blockbuster confirmed to drop this November is the James Bond film, No Time to Die , in which Malek plays the villain, Safin. Details on his character are hazy. The two-and-a-half minute trailer offers a scant 30 seconds of coverage of Bond’s latest nemesis.
“James Bond … License to kill … History of violence. I could be speaking to my own reflection. Only, your skills die with your body, and mine will survive long after I’m gone,” a voice-over croaks as Safin appears variously as a masked and scarred villain.
The measured words, delivered by Malek with a nuanced subtlety, belie the understated menace of a character of which little is known, and the actor is reluctant to spoil the surprise.
“I’m excited to keep this one secret. We’ve already waited this long; I don’t want to be giving anything away now,” he says with a laugh. “It would be so upsetting.”

He does allow that this particular 007 movie, and in particular the character, is “quite chilling”, with a decided aura of mystery.
“I sat down with [the director] Cary Fukunaga a year prior to shooting and we started to throw around ideas – he told me where he was going with the story. From that point, we put our heads together and I set out to create a character that we hadn’t quite seen before, so I’ll be very interested to see how audiences respond to it,” he says.
Malek worked with Ana de Armas, Lea Seydoux, Lashana Lynch and Daniel Craig on the set. The 007 franchise, well-known over decades for its debonair leading men, adrenaline-fuelled plots and – in earlier years – a certain objectification of women, has come a long way. In the era of female empowerment and #MeToo awareness, the female roles in recent Bond films have gained a refreshing variety and character complexity, something that Malek has noticed in No Time to Die.
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“They’re taking steps forward,” he says. “You have Lashana who gets to play a very powerful role and as a 007 agent, which I think is a great step forward. There will definitely be elements you see in this film that I think will shift our ideas on heroism and what James Bond looks like in the modern world.”
This is widely reported to be Craig’s last project as the British spy and Malek’s enthusiasm when recounting his on-set experience with the English actor – whom he describes as “very, very kind” – is immediately apparent. His trademark slow drawl picks up a notch.

“The moment I saw Daniel as Bond on set was the moment where [I was] taken aback and realised this was a uniquely special experience,” he says, adding that Craig’s personal investment in his role had a trickle-down effect on the cast and crew. “Working with Daniel was an extraordinary opportunity. He’s extremely aware that he’s the person who sets on the tone on the set – he does an exceptional job of making sure everyone feels comfortable, but at the same time, he has a rigorous work ethic and he leads by that example.”
Malek, known for his breakout performance as the conflicted and psychologically ravaged Elliot Alderson in Mr Robot, and more recently for his Academy Award-winning portrayal of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, is reluctant to compare the various roles he has played.
“They are all separate entities and I look at them equally,” he insists. “They are all worlds apart.”
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The one thing in common is his approach to his work. Malek’s devotion to his role as Freddie Mercury, for example, is well-known. From taking lessons in dialect, movement, piano and singing to purportedly watching a key video more than 1,500 times to perfect his performance, the actor doesn’t take half measures when it comes to immersing himself in his craft.
“One thing I’ve always wanted to do is create very complex, transformative performances and diving into these rich characters is something that I thrive on and enjoy,” he says. He adds that he’s open to exploring opportunities beyond acting. “There are other aspects of filmmaking that I would like to engage in as well.”

The industry wasn’t always this accessible to Malek. In the early noughties, he was one of many aspiring actors in Hollywood, sharing a small flat with friends or living with his parents and working, as he has said in other interviews, in Tinseltown’s restaurants rather than its studios.
Of those pizza-delivering, shawarma-making days, Malek says little, except to explain that when the thought of giving up ever crosses your mind, you just have to conquer the moment and persevere.
“Life is always going to be full of challenges. You’ll never get anywhere if you fall as soon as it gets hard. I knew that I loved this work and I had to keep finding new ways to stay motivated – to continue gaining momentum and gaining any ground was an accomplishment, no matter how small the step was,” he says. “Every moment has shaped my experience and life; I wouldn’t be here without any of that. You have to have some turmoil in life to get anywhere.”
Malek’s rise to mercurial heights has been documented by countless interviews over the years, charting his ascent from his early work with Gilmore Girls and Night at the Museum, to larger roles in 24, The Pacific and the Twilight series, and now to the more career-defining roles of recent years. While some actors agonise over past performances, Malek is Zen about it all.
“I leave those roles there [in the past]. I’m always trying to look forward,” he says. “I always focus more on what’s in store for me in the future rather than delving into the past.”

It’s a fair statement, more so given the brightness of this particular future. In addition to the upcoming Bond film, Malek was also named one of Cartier’s new ambassadors in June. The French luxury house relaunched its Pasha de Cartier timepiece, and Malek was in the campaign alongside Jackson Wang, Maisie Williams, Willow Smith and Troye Sivan, an experience that he describes as “empowering”.
“These people were so young and doing such special, unique work,” he says. When pressed to recount what it was like to work with the group, particularly the Hong Kong-born K-pop star, Wang, the actor praised his excellent work ethic and emphasised that “Jackson was extraordinarily kind and charming”.
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Compassion is a quality that Malek values – in a wider, global context just as much as in his personal line of work.
“I think it’s important to be as thoughtful and considerate as possible, always trying to lift others up,” he says. “We all really [need to] focus on one another … We have a duty to ourselves to take care of each other.”
We end the interview on this note, a resolutely positive one from a man who didn’t give up when he was delivering pizzas to eke out a living, and doesn’t plan on starting now. Global sentiment is perhaps at an all-time low, but there’s some comfort in hearing a firm belief in the inevitability of better days, in the importance of lifting others up and, always, in kindness.
Now I just have to convince my cat.
Milestones:
2004 – His first role in TV sitcom Gilmore Girls aired in January
2006 – He made his feature film debut as Pharaoh Ahkmenrah in Night at the Museum, a role he reprised in the movie’s 2009 and 2014 sequels
2010 – He returned to TV through the show 24, playing the suicide bomber Marcos Al-Zacar. He also appeared in the HBO miniseries The Pacific as Corporal Merriell “Snafu” Shelton
2012 – He appeared in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part II as the Egyptian coven vampire, Benjamin
2015 – Mr Robot, in which Malek plays the lead, launched. He went on to win several awards, including an Emmy in 2016 for outstanding lead actor in a drama series, for his portrayal of Elliot Alderson
2018 – He played Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, for which he later won a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award, BAFTA Award and Academy Award for best actor
2020 – The new James Bond movie, No Time to Die, drops November 2020
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