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Fresh from his Oscar-winning role as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, Rami Malek is moving to the next iconic role. That of Bond villain in No Time to Die. Gentlemen's Watch flew to New York and spoke there exclusively with the 38-year-old actor.
Frankly, it would be poetic to make Bond's first villain, Daniel Craig's last. And to give it more power: Christoph Waltz turned out to be the legendary Blofeld in Specter. And beforehand he was really classified as Franz Oberhauser. We also don't see Safin's hands in the trailers, a nod to Dr. No metal hands? When we ask Malek at New York's Crosby Street Hotel, he remains silent with a grin. "I can only tell very little."
Enough fan theories for now. No Time to Die, like all Bond movies, is shrouded in mystery, but we do know that he left his life as an MI6 agent and lives in Jamaica. That stops when his old friend and CIA agent Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) asks him to rescue a kidnapped scientist. A treacherous mission - how else can it be? - a mysterious bad guy Safin (Rami Malek) and a life-threatening new technology soon follow.
Just the way you want. In addition to Craig and Malek, we see the returning Léa Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes as M, Ben Whishaw as Q and Naomie Harris as Moneypenny. Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective Season 1, Beasts of No Nation).
Malek, son of Egyptian immigrants, grew up protected in Sherman Oaks, LA. His parents hoped he would study law, but it became theater at Evansville University. "It struck when I was rehearsing for a play," says Malek. “I had never experienced that pure feeling of excitement before. A safe place where you can do clumsy or dangerous, without anyone judging you. ”
Rolls followed in Gilmore Girls, The Pacific and Night at the Museum, but it was the independent hit Short Term 12 that made him famous. Not much later there was the successful series Mr. Robot and of course his role as Freddie Mercury in the blockbuster Bohemian Rhapsody.
The actor continues his path to stardom with that of a villain in the latest Bond movie and Daniel Craig's latest, No Time to Die.
WHAT DID YOU USE INSPIRATION FOR SAFIN?
“One of my inspirations was Javier Bardem. In my opinion, he is one of the best actors that have ever existed. His role as Silva in Skyfall was masterful, let alone No Country for Old Men. The most hair-raising bad guy I've ever seen on screen. And well, as actors we sometimes borrow some tricks from each other. I mainly looked at those roles of Bardem and other hypothermic and intriguing villains for this role. Anthony Hopkins could of course not be missed. Above all, it had to be unique and something you haven't seen with a Bond villain. ”
How much pressure did that give?
"Hmm, it's more of an honor to be part of a legacy of some very talented actors who are trying to ruin Bond."
Not as scary as filming Live Aid on the first shooting day of Bohemian Rhapsody?
“Haha, man that was indeed the first thing we had to film. What do you mean, the plaster off in one go !? I've never worked so hard on a scene. Every day before that I worked with trainers to have the movements perfect. ”
Have you ever doubted Bond?
“Not really, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't playing a religious fundamentalist. I am proud of my Egyptian heritage and choose not to play persons who are involved in terrorism or who have a certain ideology. ”
It seems like you like pressure and don't shy away from iconic roles. Take your Oscar winning role of Freddie Mercury, do you need that pressure?
“I honestly never thought of it that way. Now that I think about it, I seem to be thriving very well. I have the rare opportunity to make my dream come true. Certainly in the past few years, and why would you be short of yourself? Bond was a big challenge, especially after I got to play Freddie in Bohemian Rhapsody. ”
Did that give you more confidence?
"Absolutely. Playing Freddie felt like I had succeeded in something impossible, so I could pull myself up on it often enough. Was still scared with moments, but still. I often have to think back to that Oscar night and how unreal it is still to have such an image. "(Laughs)
HAVE YOU ALWAYS HAD SUCH HIGH STANDARDS?
“I sometimes think I am too strict for myself. Those fears have helped me with Elliot in Mr. Robot, but it can sometimes be a little less. Anyway, I want to achieve something special with my work. I never want to look back on anything and regret that I could have done more. ”
Are you done with TV?
“Television gave me the opportunity to play the roles that I am allowed to play now. The producers of Bond and Bohemian Rhapsody saw Mr. Robot and apparently thought there was a good villain and Freddie in it. What we see on TV is just as good as in the cinema. I definitely want to get back on TV again, be it in a miniseries or even a few years when the right project comes along. ”
You shot 007 along with the last season of Mr. Robot. How difficult was that?
“That was very stressful, especially when I heard shortly before filming that the data simply wouldn't work and I had to let 007 go. I was devastated. I then called everyone I could call to scroll. Sam Esmail (creator Mr. Robot ed.) And Barbara Broccoli (producer No Time to Die ed.) Have moved heaven and earth to make me act in both. That meant that every few days I was free from Mr. Robot, was on a plane heading to Europe to film Bond. Heavy, but it was too good not to make it work. ”
Was it a long way to the role?
“The story goes way back. I met Barbara (Barbara Broccoli, producer behind the Bond films, ed.) When she saw my 2013 film Short Term 12. She wanted to meet with me to discuss my work. I didn't have the illusion that I could play Bond, but she also produces beautiful theater, so why not stop by? A few years later, she saw Mr. Robot and we spoke again. She has always said that we would "ever work together" and apparently she always had something in mind and she is a woman of her word. A decision she made for last year's Oscar ceremony, which only feels like extra confidence. ”
WHAT IS THE FIRST BOND FILM YOU EVER SEEN?
"Dr. No of Goldfinger. But Casino Royale, Daniel's first movie, has always stayed with me. Facing him was legendary. Not only because I realize a childhood dream, but also because I am facing a very gifted actor. ”
How do your family think you're in a James Bond movie now?
"It is a shock to them. I was already allowed to play nice roles, but I am now moving from one iconic role to another. While they still see me at home as the "Rami" they have always known. It is important to them that I still remain the boy I used to be. That also counts for me. It is fantastic that I can take them on this journey. ”
After Bohemian Rhapsody, you now read in articles "movie star" more often than "actor" about yourself, does that take getting used to? “Huge! Because what is that, a star? It is difficult and bizarre, but it is also a very rewarding experience. It is a gift from life if you can really make your dream come true. If that comes with certain personal consequences, then I can deal with that. Or no, better said, I am learning to deal with it better and better. ”
Is it mainly your privacy?
“Losing it. Even though I try to keep every last bit of power. It's a challenge, but I don't want to risk missing life. Do I have to stay at home because there is a chance that someone will take a photo that makes me uncomfortable or listen in on a conversation? Or should I go out or to a new exhibition and enjoy? I may run a little faster than I used to or lower my head a little more in public, but I don't let it interfere as much as possible. ”
WHO DID YOU SHOW THE FIRST BOND?
“That was my father when we were in front of the TV with the whole family. Iconic films with which almost everyone has a special bond. It's hard to say why, but I think it's the mix of mystery, danger, heroism, and flawed heroism. Experiences that you want to experience in a cinema. With a bowl of popcorn on your lap, next to people who can't wait to see it and then those iconic notes popping through the sound system. Those are the moments when I'm sure cinema will never die out. No Time to Die will be a very special one. It is the last one Daniel will make and it will be one that will have a bigger impact than you expect. ”
Blofeld - Christoph Waltz - turned out to be the brain of all Bond's pain in Specter. What is Safin responsible for?
(grins) “We should see that in April. But it will not go unnoticed. ”
Rumor has it that the actors have filmed multiple endings and they don't know what the ending will be, is that right?
“Don't believe everything you read, I know everything. I lose my house when I let go, so I don't say anything else, but I know how the movie ends. ”
You now have two blockbusters on it, has your way of choosing roles changed?
“It is cliché, but the most important thing remains the role for me and the group with which I make it. I attended drama school with some very good people. People who are just as talented as I am, so I now realize it's about the opportunities you get and take. ”
And it will give you the luxury of going a bit smaller.
“I now have the opportunity that I can afford to make an independent film. That can be very satisfying. But I'm also still an actor who also loves filming something as monumental as Live Aid at Bohemian Rhapsody or Safin's hideout in No Time to Die. You dream of those things when you fantasize about becoming an actor as a boy. ”
The 25th highest-grossing James Bond film, "Death Can Wait," is worth $ 250 million. The production promises a truly shocking experience, after which the series for Agent 007 will never be the same again. We have no doubt about that, especially given the fact that in the role of Bond the villain is a charismatic actor like Rami Malek.
"This boy has scary eyes," Tom Hanks himself wrote in an email to Steven Spielberg in 2009. The two are co-producers of the HBO series "Pacific" and Hanks is currently casting for one of the supporting roles - Corporal Snaf Shelton. Eyes, of course, is Rami Malek, then 27, who tried his luck in several series and hit a dubious jackpot with the role of the Egyptian pharaoh Acmenra in the comedy "Night at the Museum". who voted for Rami Malek for a complex role in a large-scale and expensive production, and since then for Rami there has been only one direction - up!
That he was born for the roles of manic types can be seen in Mr. Robot - the series in which he played his first starring role - a genius hacker obsessed with madness and demons. The production became a real hit and since 2016, when Rami Malek received a Golden Globe for his performance, he continues to win nominations and awards. And although in the series the actor wears mostly urban urban clothes and, of course, a hooded sweatshirt, the stylists from the Dior fashion house are inspired by his unusual cosmopolitan vision and wish him to be the advertising face of their next collections.
In 2018, the actor with Egyptian blood in his veins made the world talk to himself with his frantic performance in the film "Bohemian Rhapsody", where he played the iconic image of Freddie Mercury and for which performance he received three of the biggest awards - "Golden Globe, BAFTA and Oscar. Some of Freddie and Queen's fans hated him, others glorified him, but no one was indifferent. The film brought a lot of money to its creators and finally consolidated the star status of Rami Malek.
Now Malek is involved in a new great adventure - he is the villain Safin in "Death Can Wait" (No Time To Die), who will be the fifth and last with Daniel Craig as James Bond. The official premiere of the film, whose directing for the first time in the history of Bond films was entrusted to an American - Kari Fukunaga, has been postponed to November 2020.
EVA used its connections in the underworld of Hollywood * and got to a short interview with Rami Malek, in which he talked about his character and the film as a whole. "He (Safin, as is the name of his character, b.r.) is manipulatively charming, but extremely fast and very precise. The evil in it goes beyond all the clichés about villains we've seen. Carrie (Fukunaga, b.r.) and I built the character together, thinking for a long time and talking about what would really terrify us, shake us, throw us off balance, ”Malek says of his evil demon Safin. Barbara Broccoli (producer of the series) adds that in all the years and in all the films, the villain facing Bond has embodied the deepest fears of the people. What did they come up with for the "boy with the scary eyes"?
Rami's parents are Egyptian Copts, ie. Orthodox Christians. They were born in Cairo, but emigrated to Los Angeles, where their children were born - their daughter Yasmin and twins Rami and Sami. Until the age of four, the future star speaks only his native Arabic, and for years his father often wakes him up at night to talk on the phone with his relatives in Egypt. Rami lost his father in school and this affected his entire adolescence.
He finds salvation and comfort in the school theater troupe, which he attends with another future star - Kirsten Dunst. Until he really managed to break into cinema, he did all sorts of things - a waiter, even a butcher - but he never wanted to do anything other than acting.
The biggest compliment in his life he received not at the Oscars, nor from the critics, but when one day on the set of Mr. Robot arrives actor Robert Downey Jr., now a huge star with his role as Iron Man in the Marvel blockbusters. It turns out that Downey Jr. sent Malek an email expressing his admiration for his work on the show. Rami didn't believe for a second that the email might not be fake, and deleted it without thinking.
Robert Downey Jr. stayed on set that day to watch Rami Malek work, and for a still young actor, it's a recognition that can hardly be compared to anything else. The two are still very close friends.
For Rami, the villains have always been a high ball and a great challenge - both acting and mental. Early in his career, while filming at Pacific, he had grim experiences that plunged him into severe depression. His hero is not a villain, but a man who has been injured by the war and has no problem after a battle to go around the corpses of the killed soldiers and extract their gold teeth.
"They were so well made that they looked like real corpses. At that time, even as a beginner, I had not built protective techniques, I experienced everything again and again with each double, I allowed it deep inside me and finally I started to cry, and this is not expected of my character, "admits Rami. This series is one of the big springboards in his career, but in his own words it plays a very negative role on his psyche. As we know, the villains in the James Bond movies can be and are really brutal - even the last one, played by Christoph Waltz, proves it.
Is it possible for Rami Malek's fragile sensitive soul to build on what Waltz did? In any case, he tried to do it. Freddie Mercury says: If you're not original, why are you doing it? He is my real inspiration for the image of Safin. That's why I tried to add something shocking and disturbing to my character every day of filming.
Death could wait, and we will have to. Everything about the film is kept so secret that so far the only thing we know for sure about Rami's character is that he wears a white mask on his face, part of which is missing. The rest are expectations.
It will be important, that the Distributors don't build up the marketing campaign until the movie gets its premiere, and then stop marketing it.
As the opening weekends will be lower that before, United Artists (in the US) and Universal (in the rest of the world) have to continue with heavy marketing at least until christmas. So that people don't lose interest in the movie, when it's out already for 6 weeks but they haven't seen it yet.
But let me tell.
Here in Northern Germany lots of movie theatre are already open for some weeks now. Of course most movies that are show are movies, that were released BEFORE the shutdown. Or they show classics. I've seen all three Extended Editions of the Lord of the Rings movies over the last three weeks at the theatre. I've seen Casablanca last week.
Ticket prices did not increase.
The rule over here is: you can sit together with persons from the same household and the persons from another household. Around that there have to be free seats besides and before and behind of at least 5 feet. So theatre are able to fill up to at least 33%, when there are families of a larger number, they can of course fill more than that.
The best thing is: you don't have to wear a mask when in your seat.
And we're talking about early june.
I'm pretty sure rules will change, and we still have 5 more months to go until NTTD is supposed to be released. Could be normal capacity seating by then.
Thank you. I only hope he will survive, in some way
First of all, we have already had two films in the DC era that use the weight of death as the emotional end of the film. To have Bond die will seem like a contrived, intentional way to pull at the audience's heart strings. It will feel cheap. And I just don't see CJF and PWB writing that.
Secondly, and more importantly, greater weight and greater emotional depth would occur if Bond sacrifices a life with Madeleine for the safety of the(ir) child. He knows what she has been through. If he loves her, and he knows she and the girl would never be safe being with him, then he'd make that sacrifice. And that has a greater impact. @Jan1985 just mentioned Casablanca: it's actually the film I think that has the type of ending NTTD will shoot for. Bond will send Madeleine and Mathilde away (far away) for their own good. That is the ending, as I see it, because that's how I see CJF seeing it.
I think at this point they probably have two options - open in November with social distancing being likely (although this could vary country to country - there's a whiff in the air that the UK 2metre social distancing might come down to 1 metre which will increase cinema capacity) and aim to at least break even (or they may bet against making a good profit but it just taking longer for the box office to accumulate). Or delay again to the end of 2021 and hope that a vaccine has come by then so that social distancing is at an end and box office taking can be back to normal.
Regarding the below article, I haven’t read it and don’t plan to but I heard on the radio about this child character (impossible to avoid spoilers in this day and age) and I was wondering if anyone who has read it could just tell me if this was the only spoiler mentioned in this article or are there others?
https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/no-time-to-die-call-sheet-leak-new-character?id=04707
https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/no-time-to-die-call-sheet-leak-new-character?id=04707
I hope they catch this call sheet seller.
Would you said that if he ended up to have in this call sheet a scene that is not in the movie and in the dvd bonus (since they are absolutly bland since QOS?)
Problem is that a lot of people are restricted minded about leaks, all they see is that the finished line is the realease of the movie. But no, what happen after you see it and that nothing can spoil you anymore? You are interrested by all the details that was around the production the time you tried to avoid them. How many deleted scene of Spectre, earlier versions envisaged, we know the existence ONLY due to leaked materials (concept art art, call sheet, scripts, ...)? Even if for now you are upset about the leakers, no need to be mad about them: you will thanks them after the release of the movie.
So wrong target: complain about people/site who spread them without spoiler warning or in ttheir articles's titles, it's them that you don't like finally.
(And yes, there is other spoilers in the articles).
Yes. Here in Italy theaters will re open next Monday with a 50% capacity, even tho most of them won’t open because you know, the summer and no new movies to show. Truth is we can adopt all the precautions in the world but our best chance is for the virus to “disappear” like SARS did years ago. I want to see NTTD so badly but at the same time I want it to make good numbers at the bo.
Oh, thanks for your answer. :)
is it confirmed?
this cloning story came from 4chan? how can you give it credit ? if it is a rumor from a "teenager" forum :/
can someone explain this better?
agree 100%
Sigh.
Maybe that Reddit guy wasn't as full of it as we thought at the time.....
Do you have a screenshot or extra information?
Heh, to be fair all three had been rumored on these very boards for a while, and CashleyPersia (assuming that's whom you're talking about) proved they were pretty much basing all of their "news" upon what we wrote here.