Actor Rami Malek has spoken specifically about his experience with racism as an Egyptian-American.
In an interview with the Guardian, Malek detailed an incident in Los Angeles in which he found himself thrown onto the bonnet of a police car.
“Someone robbed a liquor store and stole a woman’s bag, so they threw it on the hood of an LAPD squad car,” the Bohemian Rhapsody star told the magazine. “They said (the thief) was Latino and said, ‘You fit that description.’ I remember the engine being so hot. I guess they were racing over there, and my hands were burning. I was about to do it.”
Malek explained how a “smart” friend helped defuse the situation with authorities.
“My friend was white, but he was smart enough to say, ‘Actually, he’s Egyptian. He’s not Latin,'” he said. “I remember laughing in the squad car and thinking, ‘Okay, this is a very dangerous situation. I could go to jail for a crime I didn’t commit.'”
In 2021, Malek played the memorable main villain, terrorist leader Lützifer Safin, in the James Bond film No Time to Die, starring Daniel Craig. Malek, who played Safin, had scars from a chemical attack on his face.
Malek won the 2019 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury in the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
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The actor’s next film will be the spy thriller The Amateurs, starring Laurence Fishburne, Jon Bernthal and Holt McCallany. James Hawes will direct the film. It will be released in theaters on April 11, 2025. Check out the trailer below.