Rami Malek, previously best known for his role on the TV series Mr. Robot , broke through as a movie star in 2018, with his part as Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody . Malek won a Best Actor trophy at the Golden Globes, and is nominated for the same award at the Oscars on Sunday.
While Bohemian Rhapsody is the 37-year-old actor’s first major starring role on the big screen, Malek has been appearing in movies for more than a decade.
Malek appeared in all three movies in the Night at the Museum franchise, the 2006 original, the 2009 sequel, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, and 2014’s Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb . In all three movies, Malek — who is of Egyptian descent — played Pharaoh Ahkmenrah. See highlights of the performance, on YouTube , here.
In 2011’s comedy/drama Larry Crowne , which was directed by Tom Hanks, and starred Hanks and Julia Roberts, Malek co-starred as Steve Dibiasi, an obnoxious community college student who is a classmate of the Hanks character. See his scenes from that movie on YouTube here.
In the fifth and final film in the Twilight series, 2012’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, Malek appeared (see here on YouTube ) as a vampire named Benjamin, who appears near the end of the film. The last Twilight film was directed by Bill Condon.
In 2013, Malek had a small role (see on YouTube ) in the acclaimed indie drama Short Term 12 , which starred future Captain Marvel Brie Larson, as well as Sorry to Bother You star Lakeith Stanfield. The film was about the staffers of a group home for children, and Malek played Nate, the home’s newest employee. The film was directed by Destin Daniel Cretton.
And in 2014, Malek co-starred in the little-seen video game adaptation film Need For Speed , in which he played part of a crew of car racers that also included Aaron Paul, Kid Cudi, and Ramon Rodriguez. Most memorably, the film contains a scene in which Malek’s character takes off his clothes while walking through an office in Detroit, ultimately exiting the building naked.
Even those who dislike the Bohemian Rhapsody movie have mostly praised Malek’s performance in the film as Mercury, especially the Live Aid musical number at the end. However, Malek has drawn criticism for claiming to have been unaware of sexual misconduct accusations against the director of Bohemian Rhapsody , Bryan Singer, prior to filming, per The AV Club
