Rami Malek Says He Felt Like an Outsider Growing Up, Reveals Best Advice From Tom Hanks

Rami Malek is speaking out in a rare personal conversation.

The 44-year-old Bohemian Rhapsody star made his CR Fashion Book cover debut for Issue 28, titled Reinvention, and spoke out about his career, identity as an actor, personal ambitions, and his family growing up.

During the conversation, he also talked about falling in love with London and working there, his love of fashion, and the type of roles he wants to take on next.

Keep reading to find out what Rami Malek had to say…

On working in London:

“I’ve just fallen in love with London. I have great friends there, a great community. I love how textured it is. I love being able to just disappear into the BFI [British Film Institute] or the Barbican, observing everything. There’s something there that just recalibrates me. I can’t quite put my finger on it. The other thing I love about London is that it offers you this escape within hours: Rome, Berlin or Marrakesh…”

On currently being in Barcelona taking some time off:

“I’m here with one of my best mates from growing up. You’re going to laugh; his name is Freddy Mercury Benham. And that happened before I ever got that job! You know, growing up in Los Angeles we were surrounded by Latin culture as a family, so I’m enjoying every aspect of this culture. There’s something about this particular language that’s very familial.”

On being good at assimilating and fitting into different parts and cultures:

“Perhaps. Or perhaps I’m escaping something. I don’t know. I’m either assimilating or escaping. Time will tell.”

On feeling like an outsider:

“I was quite shy at school. I didn’t feel as comfortable in my own skin as I did when I was alone in a room at home, creating some obscure character or mimicking something that I’d seen. And it wasn’t in any way for the purpose of seeking attention, it was almost as if something wanted to revolt inside of me. And I found that really difficult to harness. Nor did I feel a responsibility to harness it. And at some point, I never knew when, there would be a boiling point where some new identity would be created and could almost immediately transform itself into another. I really didn’t have a handle on it. And still, to this day, if I find it happening, in the witching hours, where I’ll be alone and still discovering these things in this childlike place… I don’t know. I have rational thoughts about it, and now I come to understand that it’s just the mechanics of my brain and I’ve become much more appreciative of it.”

On the best advice he’s received from Tom Hanks:

“It’s simple. Be kind. A great actor, Mr. Hanks, gave me that early on. Something as simple as that covers all bases.”

On actors he idolized:

“There were so many. I was re-watching Lawrence of Arabia the other day, and I remember falling in love with Omar Sharif. My mother and father told me he was Egyptian, but that didn’t matter. He was delivering on all levels. And was he the typical Hollywood leading man? No. I guess I admire performers who surrender their vanity entirely, these human beings who are just willing to disappear into their work so completely.”

On identity, and having Egyptian parents:

“Arabic at home and American English in the outside world. I guess this duality sharpened my perception, and maybe it helped me become fluent in a different language. I came to understand, I suppose, that identity is layered and is never really singular.”

On returning to Egypt:

“I do. Quietly. It’s a place that will always feel like the homeland. Memories of going there as a child are very sacred to me. As we get older, I think we get even more nostalgic for those things.”

On working on indie projects:

“There’s something about being part of a film on a shoe-string budget that I really appreciate and have found myself yearning to return to.”

On fittings:

“There are many different types of actors in a fitting, some that will come in and give you about 15 to 20 minutes. I’m a bit of a clotheshorse, and I can stay in there and probably give you four to five hours on three different days. I enjoy it thoroughly.”

On clothing:

“What’s that great Oscar Wilde quote? Only the shallow don’t judge by appearances. I’d say the most powerful fashion is the most powerful performance.”

On dream roles:

“When I do choose to take something on, I want it to not only to resonate with me, but to know it will have a visceral impact on an audience, whether it be emotional, entertaining, dramatic, inspiring, lasting.”

On when he realized he wanted to act:

“I wouldn’t call it a lightning strike, more of a quiet brewing…maybe there was a moment where I realized that rather than presenting as this perfect, polished version of myself, I preferred inhabiting other people’s contradictions. As kids in the Valley, we would always run around and wind up in trouble, and there was always some sort of trespassing going on, and acting felt like doing that but in a more elegant way: slipping into places and certain psyches to which I wasn’t necessarily invited. There was rebellion in that.”

He also revealed if he’d ever reprise his Mr Robot role.