Rami Malek’s career is on the up and up after his Oscar win for his performance in Bohemian Rhapsody with his next big role as the villain in the new James Bond flick No Time To Die.
We’ve had some pretty good villains throughout Daniel Craig’s time as 007 with Casino Royale’s Mads Mikkelsen as Mr White, Skyfall’s Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva and Spectre’s Christoph Waltz as Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
We have yet to see any kind of promotional material for the film, so we have no idea what Malek will look like, but if Bond producer Barbara Broccoli’s description is anything to go off, he’s going to be pretty much the worst James Bond villain yet.
Speaking with Empire Magazine, Broccoli said, “He is really the supervillain. He’s the one that really gets under Bond’s skin. He’s a nasty piece of work.”
According to Digital Spy, Malek’s previously said shooting the film has been tough, “It is taxing. I will not lie; it is very, very taxing.”
The actor was working on the final season of Mr Robot at the same time as the Bond film, so it’s understandable if he found the work to be a little harder than usual.
He added that he felt a lot of pressure to pull off being a Bond villain, “I feel a substantial weight on my shoulders. I mean, Bond is something that we all grow up with. The one thing I have going for me is I played one beloved Brit in Freddie Mercury and I pulled that off, so I feel like I can possibly have a shot at playing the villain in a Bond film.”
When asked if his character will be British, Malek responded, “I didn’t say that. No, the other beloved Brit is Bond and I am obviously not playing him.”
But the character will also not be Egyptian like Malek is in real life, “No, absolutely not,” he declared.
“Another thing that I discussed with Cary; I said we cannot identify him with any act of terrorism reflecting an ideology or a religion. That’s not something I would entertain, so if that is why I am your choice then you can count me out. But that was clearly not his vision.”
When it comes to the story, the actor said it was “extremely clever”, so we have a lot to look forward to.
“It’s another extremely clever script from the people who have figured out exactly what people want in those movies. And yeah, it’s a great character. I am very excited.”
No Time To Die hits cinemas in April, 2020.