Must-Watch Rami Malek Interviews That Will Leave You Obsessed!
Let’s all take a moment to appreciate Egyptian-American superstar/heartthrob, Rami Malek, who seems like he’s going to keep charming us with his broken Arabic every once in a while.
Last year, a BBC Arabic interview by Husam Sam Asi with Malek went viral as the Mr. Robot lead actor spoke in his parents’ mother tongue. It was the first time for us, Egyptian fans, to hear him casually utter words like shukran, masr, and Alhamdulillah; Arabic for thank you, Egypt, and, thank God consecutively. We were all surprised with our jaws dropping.
Now, after finally getting used to the actor’s accent, he is no longer hesitant to throw in an Arabic word here and there during his interviews with the Arab media. Lately, two more interviews began circulating on social media; one with Patrick Abboud and another one with Husam Sam Asi. He mainly talked about his new lead role in the biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, portraying none other than Queen’s legendary Freddie Mercury! Add to that some extra juice on Malek’s ethnic background, his expectations, and even things you probably never knew about Mercury!
Here are the highlights of the interviews:
He confessed that he thought he’d never make it in Hollywood as an Arab
Bearing Malek’s Egyptian roots in mind, the actor probably never thought he’d go beyond roles like King Tut’s for instance. He didn’t have high expectations for himself in the industry as it was not that easy for an Arab to make it big in a place like Hollywood.
Rami told Abboud, “For a long time I thought, ‘I’m not gonna get this. There’s no way I’m going to play the lead of a television series!” He then added, “I did not think that, that would be the case. It was not dominated by actors who look like me or you or had names like us.”
Today, Malek is proudly a Primetime Emmy Award winner, he also has earned himself the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series. And now, his role in Bohemian Rhapsody might be Malek’s gate to even more nominations and who knows, he might land himself an Oscar!
Rami Malek takes on his biggest role yet as Freddy Mercury in Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. He tells Patrick Abboud he never thought he'd get here as an Arab actor working in Hollywood.
Posted by SBS News on Thursday, October 25, 2018
Malek and Mercury actually have things in common
Turns out that Freddie Mercury is nothing but a stage name for Farrokh Bulsara. He was originally born in Zanzibar to Parsis parents and lived in both India and London. Later on, when he formed Queen, he legally changed his name to Mercury. Hence, they’re both immigrants who made it to the big-time when they thought they couldn’t!
Rami finally assured our speculations made about the lyric “Bismillah” in Bohemian Rhapsody
If you’re a hardcore Queen fan, Bohemian Rhapsody must be your favorite song! Out of all the lyrics, one word, in particular, caught the attention of every single Arab out there. We were all probably like, “did he just say bismilliah?” You probably had your doubts as well and speculated for years, but Rami Malek just put your doubts to an end. Yes, Freddie Mercury did mean to say bismillah, Arabic for “in the name of God.”
WE SAID THIS: We can’t wait for the movie to be released in the Middle East! Meanwhile, don’t miss “Official Trailer Released Showing Rami Malek Playing Rock Legend Freddie Mercury!“
