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12, 1981) is an American actor and producer. His breakthrough role was as computer hacker
Elliot Alderson in the USA Network television series Mr. Robot (2015–2019), for which he
received several accolades, including the 2016 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead
Actor in a Drama Series. In 2018, he portrayed rock singer and songwriter Freddie Mercury in
the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, for which he received critical acclaim and won several awards,
including the Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and British
Academy Film Award for Best Actor. He is the first actor of Egyptian heritage to win the
Academy Award for Best Actor.[3] Time magazine named Malek one of the 100 most influential
people in the world in 2019.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, to Egyptian immigrant parents, Malek studied
theater at the University of Evansville in Indiana. He began his acting career performing plays
in New York City theaters before returning to Los Angeles, where he found supporting roles in
film and television, including the Fox sitcom The War at Home (2005–2007),
the HBO miniseries The Pacific (2010), and the Night at the Museum film trilogy (2006–2014).
He has done voicework for television and video games, as well as motion capture for the latter.
Contents
Career[edit]
2004–2009: Early work[edit]
Malek in 2007
After his college graduation, Malek wanted to attend grad school for theater; however, with
college debt growing, he moved to New York instead where he shared a one-bedroom Lower
East Side apartment with friends who were also in the theater community.[25][32] His network of
friends included writers and directors, many of whom would come together to form the Slant
Theatre Project, and they would perform their own plays around the city.[25][33][32]
While visiting his family in Los Angeles, he met casting director Mali Finn who convinced him
to stay and look for work in Hollywood.[25] After moving in with his parents,[25] Malek worked
delivering pizza and making falafel and shawarma sandwiches at a restaurant in Hollywood to
make ends meet.[34] Despite sending his resume to production houses, he found it difficult to get
work as an actor, which led to bouts of depression and a loss of confidence.[34] He considered
getting a real estate license instead of pursuing an acting career.[35]
After a year and a half, he finally received a call from casting director Mara Casey.[34][19] She asked
to speak to his agent. When he confessed he did not have one, she told him to get one first.
[19]
After having a pleasant conversation, however, Malek suggested they meet anyway. She
agreed, and the meeting led to him getting his first role in the TV sitcom Gilmore Girls; the
episode he acted in first aired in January 2004.[34] That same year, he starred in the theater
production Johnny Boy at the 130-seat Falcon Theatre in Burbank, California and, later, in the
production Shoes opposite Kelli Giddish with the Slant Theatre Project in New York City.[36][37]
[38]
He also voiced "additional characters" for the video game Halo 2, for which he was
uncredited.[39] In 2005, he received his Screen Actors Guild card for his work in two episodes of
the Steven Bochco war drama Over There.[40] Later that year, he appeared in an episode
of Medium and was cast in the prominent recurring role of Kenny, on the Fox comedy series The
War at Home.[41][42] Kenny's "coming out" story earned accolades from GLAAD.[9] In 2006, Malek
made his feature film debut as Pharaoh Ahkmenrah in the comedy Night at the Museum. He
reprised this role in the sequels Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) and Night
at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014).[7] In the spring of 2007, he appeared on-stage as Jamie
in the Vitality Productions theatrical presentation of Keith Bunin's The Credeaux Canvas at
the Elephant Theatre in Los Angeles.[43][44]
2010–2015: Supporting roles[edit]
Malek at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con
Screenwriter Sam Esmail had auditioned over 100 actors to play the lead character of Elliot
Alderson (a mentally unstable computer-hacker) for a show he was developing. Having failed to
cast the part, he considered re-writing the character altogether.[10] However, after seeing Malek's
audition in late summer 2014, Esmail said, "It opened my eyes to who Elliot really was".[57][10] The
resultant psychological drama, Mr. Robot, premiered on June 24, 2015, on the USA Network,
with Malek in the lead role. To accurately play the character, who suffers from mental and social
disorders, he met with a psychologist.[58] The role drew immediate acclaim from critics, with USA
Today calling it his "breakout performance".[59] Entertainment Weekly called Malek's "magnetic
performance" the "best reason" to watch the show.[60] Backstage remarked that Malek "anchored
the drama" and that his "spin" on the anti-hero trope "promises a fresh direction for prestige TV".
[61]
His performance earned him nominations for the Dorian Award, Satellite Award, Golden
Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award. He won the Critics' Choice Television Award for
Best Actor in a Drama Series and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a
Drama Series. He was the first non-white actor to win an Emmy in that category since 1998.[62]
[63]
The show concluded in December 2019 with its fourth season, for which Malek received a
second Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama.[7][64]
Though he was among 3000[65] actors considered to play Han Solo in Solo: A Star Wars Story,
[66]
Buster's Mal Heart was the first film in which Malek played a starring role. The film
premiered in September 2016 at the Toronto International Film Festival to positive reviews.[67] In
it, Malek plays a man who leads two lives, one as Jonah and another as Buster.[68] Casting him in
the role before his success with Mr. Robot, the director, Sarah Adina Smith, said, "I had no idea
how huge and adored he would become".[69] Reviewing the actor's performance, John DeFore
of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Fans of Mr. Robot won't be disappointed in the least by this
vehicle for Emmy-winning series star Rami Malek, which both fits in with Mr. Robot's delusion-
prone paranoia and lets the charismatic actor stretch out in his first feature lead".[70] Malek next
starred as Louis Dega in Papillon, a remake of the 1973 film, co-starring Charlie Hunnam.[71] It
premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival,[72] and had a limited box office release
in August 2018.[73] In 2017, Malek joined the cast of the Netflix animated comedy series BoJack
Horseman (season 4), voicing the character Flip McVicker, a writer who does not trust email.[74]
Joe Mazzello (left), Malek, and Gwilym Lee (right) promoting Bohemian Rhapsody in 2018
Acting style[edit]
People didn't know where to place me with my ethnicity, and never was I ever up for leading anything. The fact that Rami Malek
got to play the lead character, called Elliot Alderson, in Mr. Robot was somewhat of a coup, I think. I never saw that possibility
when I was younger.
Malek to The New Yorker, October 2018[13]
Malek's early roles established him as a character actor.[9][100] He has remarked that he enjoys the
auditioning process, sees it as a "proving ground to test things out", and has created so many
diverse characters for auditions that he wishes he could collect them as a package to show to
others.[23] After reading his own Wikipedia article, Malek elaborated and said, "I would take the
time to prepare for auditions as if I was actually gonna perform. I would come with something
fully formed and hope that that resonated. Sometimes it did, many times it didn't but that's the
proving ground and I appreciate it".[101] However, following his success with Mr. Robot, he began
to be regarded as a "leading man",[102] though an "unconventional" one.[68] He is portrayed by
comedian Pete Davidson in Saturday Night Live sketches parodying the character.[103][104] In 2017,
Malek accepted an invitation to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, among
774 new members invited as part of the Academy's efforts to diversify its members
after criticism over the lack of diversity of the 88th Academy Awards.[105][106]
To prepare for a role, he describes an initial stage of panic, followed by research into the
character to create a world for that person. This includes finding music he thinks the character
would listen to, as well as creating and imagining past memories for that person to the point he
has to perform as them.[23] His most creative times are mornings and evenings.[23] Malek likes to do
experimental takes until he finds a take that will work.[100] Director Sam Esmail noted that Malek
is often dissatisfied with his work even when the director feels he has completed a perfect take.
[10]
Because of their mutual insistence on getting a scene the best it can be, Esmail considers
Malek a "co-creator".[107] The actor has also been noted for his physical transformations to play his
characters. He lost significant weight to play Elliot Alderson,[108] Freddie Mercury,[109] and Snafu
Shelton, where Tom Hanks required that he maintain between six and eight-percent body fat.
[47]
During the filming of The Pacific, Malek found it difficult to separate himself from his
character, Snafu Shelton, which led to "some pretty intense mental anguish during and after
filming".[110] He noted the most valuable lesson from that experience was learning to distance
himself from his characters, otherwise he would not have been able to take on complex roles
later in his career, like Elliot Alderson in Mr. Robot.[110]
Public image[edit]
Malek's appearance has inspired commentary in the industry and in the media. GQ Middle
East called Malek's aspect "vampiric ... with one of those faces that looks young and mature, all
at once. When you speak, Malek's oversized eyes give you full attention".[4] In a letter to the
producer after Malek's audition for The Pacific, Tom Hanks remarked, "This guy's got haunting
eyes".[24] The Globe and Mail, in an interview after the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival,
described the actor as "startlingly handsome ... with tawny skin and close-cropped curly hair. ...
He speaks in a slow, just-woke-up drawl that contrasts with his dazzling smile and anything-goes
energy. And he's mostly eyes. Giant, chalky blue eyes, the colour of one of those preternaturally
still mineral lakes in the Rockies. They seem to see both outwardly and inwardly. They're sad,
yet amused. Thousand-mile eyes".[69]
He has also garnered attention for his fashion sense, particularly for his bold color choices and
"quirky touches".[111] He was chosen (along with Boy George and A$AP Rocky) to be part of Dior
Homme's Spring 2017 campaign,[112] and the face of Saint Laurent's Spring/Summer 2020
campaign.[113] GQ Middle East launched in October 2018 with Malek on its first cover.[4] Fashion
commentators have included him on their "best-dressed" lists, often at red-carpet events.
[114]
Placing him at number 29 on its list of Best Dressed Men 2019, GQ called his looks, "neat,
elegant and perfectly put together, ... experimental on the surface, but underneath they're also
surprisingly approachable".[115] Ilaria Urbinati is his stylist.[116]
Over time, Malek's prominence in the industry has grown. In 2015, The Hollywood
Reporter included him on Next Gen 2015, its annual list of stars who are 35 and under and "on
the rise."[117] Time magazine named Malek one of the 100 most influential people in the world in
2019 under the category of Artists.[118]
Personal life[edit]
Filmography[edit]
Film[edit]
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
Battleship LT. Hill
2016
Jonás "Jonah" Cueyatl /
Buster's Mal Heart [132]
Buster
2019 The Ben Cobb Show Harry Bardo Short film [134]
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2020
Post-
No Time to Die Safin [136]
production
Post-
2021 The Little Things Detective Baxter [137]
production
Television[edit]
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2004 Gilmore Girls Andy Episode: "In the Clamor and the Clangor"
2005–
The War at Home Kenny Al-Bahir 21 episodes
07
The Legend of
2012 Tahno Voice role; 3 episodes
Korra
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2015–
Mr. Robot Elliot Alderson Main role; also producer (seasons 3–4) [138]
19
2017–
BoJack Horseman Flip McVicker (voice) 10 episodes
18
Theater[edit]
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
Okinawa
2004 Johnny Boy Paul Falcon Theatre: March 31 – May 23, 2004 [141]
2007 The Credeaux Canvas Jamie Elephant Theatre: March 22 – April 8, 2007 [44]
Video games[edit]
Year Title Voice role Notes Ref.
The Legend of
2014 Tahno
Korra
Year Title Voice role Notes Ref.
Podcasts[edit]
Yea
Title Voice role Notes Ref.
r