Rami Malek Took Inspiration from His Role as Freddie Mercury in Creating the Bond Villain Safin

The lesson Rami Malek learned from playing Freddie Mercury came in handy for the actor while essaying the role of Safin in the upcoming James Bond movie No Time To Die.

Bond Villains are unique in that they are mostly one dimensional with a different actor playing almost the same version of the character in each iteration of the bond movies. There are some exceptions to the one-dimensional broad stroke, 'Raul Silva,' from 'Skyfall' comes to mind, but rarely do you got to see a Bond movie for the sake of the villain.

The reason to go and watch a bond movie is solely for the actor who plays the character, the Aston they drive, and the pretty lady they romance. But as spectacle movies have become a weekly thing, 'James Bond' also needs to change with the changing audience preference and the current climate of cinema.

No Time To Die is the final movie featuring Daniel Craig in the iconic James Bond role.
Source: IMDb

No longer is the public wowed by the gadgets on a Bond car, and the spy from Britain romancing actress 20 years his younger is just not a good look for the series anymore. So, now the Bond movies are changing with high preference being given to the villain of the series. Ever since Daniel Craig took over the role, the villain has been much more pronounced, some hit the mark and others wildly missed it, but the intent is there to make Bond villain as interesting as Bond.

So, the curtain is falling on Daniel Craig’s time as 'James Bond' in the final movie coming next year; there was again and emphasis on the villain of the film. Daniel Craig is probably the favorite Bond of most of the people, and he stated before why, after saying he was done with the franchise, still he came back because 'Spectre' was not the way he wanted to go out.

Watch: Daniel Craig said Sepctre was not the way he wanted exit the James Bond franchise

It was the reason why Daniel Craig returned and coming along to facilitate the final run of Craig as Bond is Rami Malek, who is playing a new villain, Safin, in the film. The identity of 'Safin' was hidden from the public till the moment the promotional posters and the trailer for the movie were released, and finally, he was revealed to be a villain who will supposedly get under the skin of Bond.

Rami Malek said, in preparation for the movie, the actor took something from playing the iconic frontman of 'Queen,' Freddie Mercury. The role won him an Oscar last year, and the actor said he the influence of playing the character made him distinguish the character of 'Safin' from anything else he’d done before.

Watch: Rami Malek won an Oscar for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in the beloved movie Bohemian Rhapsody

From the life of Mercury, Rami said he learned, “If I went in there and tried to make a carbon copy of someone, what joy or fun would that be for anybody? I guess that may be a lesson I learned from Mr. Mercury. If it's not original, then why bother?”

The actor said though he was trying to make someone unique in Safin, he also took some things from the past and tried to sprinkle them in his character. 'Safin' actor said, “I've pocketed some things from some of my favorites. But I tried to every day imbue this character with something I thought made sense for the character, but might also at the same time be shocking and unnerving.”

Watch: The trailer for the upcoming James Bond movie No Time To Die

Rami Malek also previously revealed when he signed on to play the character of 'Safin,' he told the producers he was not going to play a religious middle eastern zealot or someone who wants to harm others based on his ideology. This resulted in the actor working with a dialect coach to make his character’s country of origin ambiguous.

But how well the character comes together in the film, is to be seen when 'No Time To Die' is released worldwide on 8 April 2020. Also, before you leave, make sure to visit Glamour Fame to be in the know of all the happenings in the world of show business.