Even before landing the lead in Bohemian Rhapsody, Rami Malek was an accomplished talent, and
he's made an impression over the last decade as one of Hollywood's most intriguing young
stars.
Here are the biggest reasons why the actor who plays Freddie Mercury looks so familiar.
Like pretty much every actor who went to Hollywood with dreams of making it big, Rami Malek started
small.
His first ever on-screen role was as an enthusiastic bible study participant on Gilmore Girls in
2004, which he followed up with one-off stints on Medium, Alcatraz, and Believe.
"My name is Rami Malek, and welcome to GQ Middle East.”
And because of his Egyptian background, Malek was often cast as Middle Eastern characters
in series like the Iraq War FX drama Over There, and Fox's 24.
If you were a kid in the mid-2000s, the reason Malek looks familiar is because he starred
in one of the most popular family film franchises of all time.
In the three A Night at the Museum movies, Ben Stiller played an unassuming night watchman
at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City… where the historical figures
in the exhibits come to life.
Among them, is a pharaoh from ancient Egypt - portrayed by Malek.
"My parents gave me this tablet 3,000 years ago.
It has a magical power that brings all of the exhibits to life.”
No really.
What's it do?”
The guy who would one day play Freddie Mercury under plenty of makeup and prosthetics is
still recognizable, only here he acts from underneath traditional Egyptian garb.
Before his Emmy-winning, star-making work on Mr. Robot, Malek's initial TV breakthrough
was a major role in HBO's Emmy-winning miniseries, The Pacific, in 2010.
Not only was the story based on real events during World War II, but Malek's character,
Private First Class Shelton, was based on a real person, as well.
In a roundtable discussion in 2016, Malek credited the role with preparing him to play
more complex people, without internalizing the emotional baggage of the character.
“And taking that home every day… it physically and psychologically really had kind of a negative
impact on me.”
Malek broke out for good in 2015 when he landed the lead role of Elliot Anderson on Mr. Robot.
"I started intercepting all the traffic on your network.
I decided to hack you.”
“Are you blackmailing me?”
“I don't give a s--- about money.”
The ambitious, mysterious, and unpredictable USA series concerns the exploits of genius
hacker, Elliot - who has a split personality disorder and can't always decipher what's
real and what isn't.
The complicated role not only made Malek a star, it earned him an Emmy for Outstanding
Lead Actor in a Dramatic Series, in 2016.
The brutal original 1973 film, Papillon, starred Steve McQueen as a real-life early-20th century
criminal-turned South American penal colony resident, best-known by his nickname - a.k.a.,
the title of the movie - Papillon, which means "butterfly".
"You double-cross me, I'll kill you.”
And in 2017, Papillon got the Hollywood remake treatment, with Charlie Hunnam as the lead,
while Malek played the thoughtful and crafty Dega.
"You seem like the kind of man who can make up his own mind.”
“You're a good judge of character.”
The film earned a small theatrical release in North America, but established Malek as
a movie star, not just a TV actor.
Part of what makes Mr. Robot so intriguing is Malek's in-character narration as the troubled
Elliot Alderson.
"Just a regular cyber-security engineer.
But I'm a vigilante hacker by night.”
But the actor has been honing his voice acting skills throughout his entire decade-and-a-half
career.
One of his first acting jobs was recording dialogue for a variety of minor characters
in the classic video game Halo 2.
He also had a run on Nickelodeon's beloved fantasy series The Legend of Korra as Tahno,
a role he reprised in a video game adaptation of the show.
"This is going to be a sensational season of television.”
Notably, Malek's BoJack Horseman character, Flip McVicker, a quirky filmmaker, enjoyed
a major plot arc in the fourth and fifth season of the Netflix series.
"Is all of this a tooty-fruity illusion covered in sprinkles?
So, so, so many sprinkles."