Bohemian Rhapsody, a film about the incredible rise of ’70s rock icons Queen, finally hits theaters in November 2018. It’s been a long time coming with lots of planning and false starts — it almost went in front of cameras years ago starring comedian and Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen as Queen’s singer, the late Freddie Mercury. But the ship righted itself, and starring in the tale of the band behind songs like “We Are the Champions,” “Under Pressure,” and, of course, “Bohemian Rhapsody,” is actor Rami Malek.
Who’s that? Well, he’s arguably not as famous as Cohen, but he’s certainly an accomplished talent who’s made an impression over the last decade as one of Hollywood’s most intriguing young actors. His biggest role, and the one that got him on the radar to play the great Mercury, is Elliot Alderson, a talented hacker with a very complicated inner life on USA’s hit drama Mr. Robot. Here are some other places where you might have seen Rami Malek — and all the biggest reasons why the actor who plays Freddie Mercury looks so familiar.[/nextpage][nextpage]
Paying his dues and bills with TV work (2004–2014)
Like pretty much every actor who went to Hollywood with dreams of making it big in movies and on television, Rami Malek started small. He got his start playing a wide variety of roles on a wide variety of television programs. (Everybody’s got to start somewhere — and make a living). All the way back in 2004, Malek started regularly landing one-episode gigs on network and cable dramas. His first ever on-screen role was an enthusiastic bible study participant on an episode of Gilmore Girls, which he followed up with one-and-done stints on many of the finest series that early-to-mid-2000s television had to offer, including Medium, Alcatraz, and Believe.
Also, because of his Egyptian background, Malek was often cast (or typecast) as Middle Eastern characters in series that dealt with the post-9/11 fight on terror, including the Iraq War FX drama Over There and Fox’s 24.[/nextpage][nextpage]
The War at Home (2005–2007)
While not as culturally or commercially significant as its animated offerings like The Simpsons and American Dad, Fox still airs the occasional live-action, laugh-track-powered situation comedy. From 2005 to 2007 it broadcast the moderately successful The War at Home. A vehicle for brash but likable actor Michael Rapaport, it centered on the Golds, one of those sitcom families that’s always bickering while dad (Rapaport) can’t understand how the world has changed so much since he was a kid. The War at Home thusly addressed social issues, particularly through its teenage characters. Larry Gold (Kyle Sullivan) spent most of his time hanging out with his best friend Khaleel Nazeeh Al-Nahir, a Middle Eastern-American who prefers to be called Kenny. Because Larry likes things like figure skating and is very close with his male friend, Rapaport’s character assumes the boys are in love, but in truth Larry isn’t gay, but Kenny is (and he harbors a secret crush on Larry). A major recurring figure on The War at Home, Malek appeared in 21 episodes of the series.[/nextpage][nextpage]
The three A Night at the Museum movies (2006–2014)
If you were a kid in the mid-2000s, the reason Rami Malek probably 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 (based on the classic kids book by Milan Trenc), 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 are Theodore Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Ivan the Terrible (Christopher Guest), and Ahkmenrah, a pharaoh from ancient Egypt portrayed by Malek. His recurring plot line throughout the Night at the Museum series: stop the wicked plans of his scary brother, another pharaoh named Kahmunrah (played by Hank Azaria). The guy who would one day play Freddie Mercury under plenty of makeup and prosthetics is still recognizable, only here he acts from underneath a lot of traditional Egyptian garb and head gear.[/nextpage][nextpage]
The Pacific (2010)
Before his Emmy-winning, star-making work on Mr. Robot, Rami Malek’s big TV breakthrough was a major role in HBO’s acclaimed 2010 Emmy-winning miniseries The Pacific. A stylistically and philosophically similar follow-up to the 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers (it was produced by the same people), it examined the lives of soldiers fighting in Europe during World War II, and followed American Marines fighting in the Pacific Theater of Operations. Not only is the story obviously based on real events, but so are characters like Malek’s Pfc./Cpl. Merriel Shelton, a.k.a. Snafu, a Louisiana-born private who’s at first tough on his fellow soldiers and brutal to the enemy, then comes to realize the toll war can have on humanity and decency. In a roundtable discussion in 2016, Malek credited the role with preparing him to play more complex people — such as Elliot on Mr. Robot — but without internalizing the emotional baggage of the character.
(Excerpt) Read More at: Looper.com[/nextpage]