Rami Malek, the Oscar-winning Bohemian Rhapsody star, has shared a touching Robin Williams story from his time with the late actor on the set of Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. Williams was an acclaimed and adored actor/comedian whose death seven years ago is still a difficult issue for many.
Today Malek is widely known and has his pick of enticing lead roles. However, it was not long ago at all when the 39-year-old was taking smaller roles, yet still working with some of the biggest names in Hollywood. It was arguably in 2006 that Malek’s big break came. After playing small roles in several TV series, he was cast in Shawn Levy’s Night at the Museum, playing Egyptian pharaoh Ahkmenrah. The film was Malek’s first feature and it afforded him the opportunity to work alongside comedic greats such as Ricky Gervais, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, and, of course, Williams. Fortunately for Malek, Night at the Museum turned out to be a major hit and promptly gave way to two more sequels.
In a recent interview with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, Malek told a story about working with Williams that is sure to tug on the heartstrings of many. The particular moment came while the pair were working on the third entry in the Museum series, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. The film was largely set in London’s British Museum and Malek’s initial description of working with Williams seems to be everything that fans would expect it to be. But as Malek goes on to explain, there was indeed another quieter, much more contemplative side to the notoriously rowdy comedian:
"On the third one we’re shooting at the British Museum at night and we have the place all to ourselves and Robin, you could tell something was happening with him, right? He would go on these riffs every once in a while and light up the world and you’d be like, Oh my god! Who are you? and then dip back down into this other place, he’d see us all on our phones and devices and he’d be like, What happened to this? What happened to this? And so I see him kind of veer off and he walks off alone and he’s just kind of staring at this massive rock in the British Museum and I’m like, Aw man, like, what’s going on with him, is he alright? So I walk up to kind of like, say Is everything okay? And he looks at me, just kind of slightly over the shoulder and he goes: 'How often do you get to be alone with the Rosetta Stone?'”
The Rosetta Stone dates back to 196 BCE and is inscribed with a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, during the Ptolemaic dynasty. The decree is written in three ways: hieroglyphics, ancient Egyptian demotic and Ancient Greek and was brought to England in 1802. For those who followed Williams’ career and tragic death, Malek’s story is certainly about more than Williams appreciating an ancient Egyptian artifact. Secret of the Tomb marked Williams’ final appearance on the big screen before his death that same year. From the sound of it, what Malek was witnessing were some of the final contemplative moments of one of modern cinema’s brightest talents.
Because of the nature of Williams’ death, moments like the one that Malek describes while filming Night at the Museum carry a certain weight that wouldn’t apply had this moment occurred with an actor who’s still alive. Fans will undoubtedly spend time unpacking this moment between the two actors, as it definitely gives the impression that in his final days, Williams was dealing with a variety of deep emotions and thoughts.
Source: The Tonight Show