A James Bond casting director has explained how Rami Malek landed his upcoming role in No Time To Die. Malek plays Lyutsifer Safin, the mysterious new villain in the 25th Bond film, which releases on October 8. No Time To Die is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and stars returning Bond actor Daniel Craig in his final turn as the famous British Spy, as well as a supporting cast that includes Ana de Armas, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Christoph Waltz, Naomie Harris and Jeffrey Wright.
Malek made a name for himself throughout the years, starting off in smaller TV roles in shows like 24, The Pacific, and Bojack Horseman, before landing a star-making role in the hit series Mr. Robot. Malek then landed the coveted role of Freddie Mercury in Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, which won him an Oscar for Best Actor. Since then, the actor has worked with Denzel Washington in The Little Things and the podcast series Blackout. After the success of Bohemian Rhapsody, however, Malek became instantly in-demand, and his performance in the film put him on the radar of the Bond producers.
In an interview with EW, Bond casting director Debbie McWilliams, who has cast more than ten Bond films, says it was not easy to track the actor down. After reaching out to his agents and getting no response, McWilliams went to a screening of Bohemian Rhapsody where Malek was in attendance, and went straight to him to discuss the opportunity. The direct approach appeared to work, as Malek hadn't even heard that the Bond producers were interested in him. The actor was in the Bond offices the very next day and secured the role of the new villain in No Time To Die. Here's McWilliams full story about nabbing Malek:
"I had a very strange time trying to get Rami Malek into the room because, with all due respect to his agents, they didn't really respond when I suggested that they might want to meet him. Because every single person on a Bond film pretty much has to come in and be met by everybody first, you don't just get the contract through the post. I, again, just happened to be in the right place [at] the right time. I went to a screening of Bohemian Rhapsody that he was at and then we were invited afterwards for a drink, so I marched up to him and said, "Have you had any call from your agent about a James Bond film?" He went, "No." And I said, "Well, we've been trying to meet you for quite a long time." Within a second, he was on the phone and the very next day he was in the office and that was that. [Laughs] I've learned to be quite bold. If you want something you go and get it."
Malek joins a long list of Bond villains and henchmen from decades past, who hold the same casting esteem as the famed Bond Girls. The Craig-era Bond films have seen some powerful stars take on the iconic villains, including Javier Bardem in Skyfall, Dave Bautista in Spectre, Mathieu Amalric in Quantum of Solace, and Mads Mikkelsen in Casino Royale. Many big-name actors also made their mark in earlier Bond films, from Benicio Del Toro to Yaphet Kotto, Donald Pleasence, Sean Bean, Jonathan Pryce, and Famke Janssen, among many others.
Little is known about Malek's character Safin in No Time To Die. While he's the main villain of the film, he's also flanked by returning villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, again played by Christoph Waltz, who first appeared in Spectre. The trailers for the film suggest that Blofeld and Safin have some type of connection, although it's not clear what that is. However, it seems likely the connection has something to with Léa Seydoux's Madeleine Swann. Swann returns in Craig's final opus as Bond, which seemingly connects to a larger story than began in Casino Royale. It will certainly be interesting to see how the narrative ties these three very different but iconic Bond characters together. All answers will be revealed soon enough when the film finally releases.
Source: EW
