Live from New York, Rami Malek made his highly-anticipated Saturday Night Live debut at the weekend. Wearing a black tie and sweater vest – a far cry from Kim Kardashian’s many wardrobe changes from the week prior – the Bohemian Rhapsody star delivered a hilarious opening monologue. One we’ve replayed over and over again.
The actor will appear in the latest James Bond film, No Time To Die, so it was only fitting that he’d make note of his flair for villainous characters.
“I tend to do these really intense characters,” Malek said, “which makes a lot of sense because people tell me I have what’s called a ‘resting villain face.’”
“I’ve always been more drawn to villains,” Malek said in his opening monologue. “In “The Lion King,” I’m team-Scar. I actually found Simba to be kind of annoying. You want to be king? You’re 3 years old.”
The award-winning actor paid tribute to his upbringing, an Egyptian immigrant, growing up with two siblings in San Fernando Valley. Malek praised his twin brother’s career as a teacher as well as his sister’s frontline role as an ER doctor but swiftly noted, he was still an “Oscar winner”.
As with any SNL guest host, Malek appeared in a number of comedic sketches throughout the night and played a stink bug and an actor auditioning for Prince – a subtle nudge to his 2018 performance as Freddy Mercury. But where the actor’s skills really shined was in an imitation of his co-star Pete Davidson and Davidson played Malek. The guest star wore a tie-dye sweat set and blonde wig and masterfully nailed Davidson’s raspy voice.
This alone deserves an Oscar.
If his effort for SNL is anything to go by, his portrayal of Safin in No Time To Die is going to be very good. The 25th James Bond film will release into Australia cinemas from November 11, 2021.
