-First of all, "Mr. Robot" --
-Yeah.
-Congrats.
That's such a great show.
You know, I've had you -- we've
had you on talking about that.
Is it true, I heard, that it
might be coming to an end?
-It's so sad. Yes.
-Why?
-I don't know. I don't know.
[ Laughter ]
Because I love it so much.
I'm quite frankly
a bit disappointed.
But Sam Esmail, who writes,
creates and directs it
and is the genius mind behind it
had a finite period of time
he wanted to tell this story.
And it's coming to
its conclusion this year.
-Gosh.
-But, you know, the best part
of it is that I wouldn't have
had this role had the producers
not seen me on "Mr. Robot."
I wouldn't have got the role
of Freddie Mercury.
-Is that right?
-So that's a pretty cool thing.
-Absolutely.
-Yes.
-And you got an Emmy for it,
as well.
-Yes.
-I think it's --
[ Laughter ]
You did, I mean, yeah.
-I have to remind myself I did.
-You got an Emmy. Yeah.
[ Cheers and applause ]
You're good.
Remind yourself.
-Yes, thank you.
-Let's talk about --
-Let's chat.
-..."Bohemian rhapsody,"
because if I had your e-mail,
your phone number, I would have
called you a gazillion times
and said, "Dude,
you were unbelievable!
You were unbelievable
in this movie!"
-You have my e-mail
and phone number.
-That's true.
But I decided to not call you.
[ Laughter ]
I -- I flipped out.
-Did you?
-You were unbelievable.
-Thanks, man.
-I mean, 'cause, dude,
this is -- I mean, look,
this is you right here.
This is supermodel,
actor Rami Malek right here,
by the way.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Congrats on this cover,
by the way.
-Isn't that nice?
-Is this true --
-I didn't think that
would ever happen.
-This the first ever "GQ"
in the Middle East.
-Yes.
-They never had this.
-If ever I was going to be on
the "GQ,"
it would be the "GQ"
in the Middle East.
[ Laughter ]
-Yeah. That's kind of amazing
for you, right?
-Yeah. It's huge.
I mean, my family is Egyptian.
I'm a first-generation American.
So, you know, being Egyptian
is in the fiber of my DNA
and something I'm immensely
proud of.
So to grace this cover
is an accomplishment.
I never would have thought
I would be saying that,
but it really is.
-It's a big deal.
-Yeah.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-This guy --
you don't look like --
You don't look like
Freddie Mercury, to me.
I wouldn't --
I wouldn't cast you.
-I didn't think so either, yeah.
-But then when you see
this movie --
Guys, look at this --
side by side.
That's Rami.
[ Applause ]
Dude, you are unbelievable.
I mean, I freaked out.
I mean, I'm watching scenes,
And I go,
"Is that a real clip of --
the real clip of Live Aid?"
When you're going out,
it's just you going from behind.
And I go -- I mean, even
your posture is different
than your own posture.
-Yeah, yeah, it is.
-Right, because this is
probably how in "Mr. Robot",
this is your posture.
-Yeah.
I mean, he's so -- I have these
teeth that I wear, exactly.
I have these teeth that I wear.
And the first time
I put them in my mouth,
I was incredibly insecure.
And then I found myself
compensating.
I just started sitting up
straight and being more elegant.
And he had the best posture.
And you start to think,
"Oh, these are the reasons
he is who he is."
-Wow, that's interesting.
-It is, right?
-And you just rock it, dude.
I can't even believe you --
I mean, how did you even
pull off the Live Aid thing?
-You're not gonna believe this.
One of the greatest rock
performances in history.
It's considered maybe
the greatest.
For some reason, our producers
thought it would be a good idea
to start with that on day one.
[ Laughter ]
-That was the first day
of shooting?
-That was the first day, man.
-Wow!
-So, I --
-Wow!
-About halfway into the day,
I thought, "Oh, man."
-Jump into the fire, man.
-I jumped -- trial by fire,
entire baptism by fire.
But I thought, "They must have
reason for doing this."
Because, you know,
if halfway through they get --
we get through this and we suck,
they'll just pull the plug
on the whole production,
pack it up and go home, right?"
-Smart, yeah, you save
a lot of money that way.
-Save $60 million.
[ Laughter ]
We don't have to watch
this B-rate version of Queen
for three months.
[ Laughter ]
-Yeah, exactly, yeah.
-When I got the call sheet
for day two,
it was like winning an Oscar.
[ Laughter ]
-It's like -- really.
-We're back!
-"We are making this movie.
This is great."
-It's happening!
-You wore the white tank
and the jeans.
-Yeah. It's surreal
walking out there
after watching that concert
so many times and --
-Did you feel at any point --
you must as an actor,
but did you feel at one point
you're like,
"I actually am turning into
Freddie Mercury."
When did you feel?
Like when you put the teeth in,
or -- Who did your --
-The teeth helped.
[ Laughter ]
-You'll see it.
I mean, you'll see.
-They're there. I'm warning you.
-They're definitely there, yeah.
-They're there. But, I mean,
he got called "Bucky" as a kid
before he was even called
Freddie Mercury.
And I won't tell you
his real name.
If you don't know, you'll have
to find out in the movie.
Don't Google it, please.
[ Laughter ]
But you put the teeth in,
and that's one thing.
I had this exceptional makeup
artist named Jan Sewell.
She did Eddie Redmayne
in "The Theory of Everything."
-Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
-Remember that transformation?
I'm like, "I get her? Amazing."
-Wow!
And then I had Julian Day
do the costumes.
And these costumes, maybe...
-The best.
-...100 different outfits,
right?
-If you're a fan of Queen,
the costumes alone
will get applause.
-Right? They will.
And they do.
-They do?
-They do.
-I would go nuts for you.
-Yeah.
-I was like, "That is classic!"
-Yeah.
-Only Freddie Mercury
could pull that off.
-Only Freddie Mercury.
And it's a long way
from "Mr. Robot" where I wear
one thing every single day.
[ Laughter ]
-You wear a hoodie.
-Yeah.
-You wear a hoodie, yeah.
-That's it.
-That's it, yeah.
-I mean, talk about
polar opposites.
-But do you know how to play
the piano?
-I've never played the piano.
I was scared
of playing the piano.
As a kid, it seemed like
such a foreign thing.
I told them when I sat down,
I go,
"Listen, guys, I'm not going to
be the Hollywood actor
that sells myself here.
I don't play the piano.
I don't think I'm a singer.
I have a very unusual way
of dancing.
[ Laughter ]
That's about as close as I can
get to Freddie Mercury."
-And they still hired you?
-I think they thought,
"Oh, here we'd get
a humble actor for once.
[ Laughter ]
There's a modest guy."
Yeah.
-You just hit a home run.
They got to be -- everyone's
got to be so psyched
for your performance.
-Oh, man.
-I mean, you at one point
played the piano
laying upside down.
You were laying on the ground
playing it
with your hands crossed.
-Spoiler alert.
-Oh, sorry. Yeah, yeah.
[ Laughter ]
-Please. Stop.
-Please, there's other ones.
-No, no, no. That was something
Freddie did every night.
And the man never ceases
to amaze me.
As much prep as I did,
I found out more and more about
what he was capable of.
And I tried to do him honor
and --
-You did.
-Yeah.
He is a magnificent human being.
And I can't wait to share
this movie
with a brand-new generation.
-Oh, just so cool.
I want to show a clip.
-Show it.
-This is Rami Malek
as Freddie Mercury
in "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Take a look at this.
-What's going on?
-You'd know if you were on time.
-I want to give the audience
a song that they can perform.
-So what can they do?
[ Stomping and clapping
rhythmically ]
-Imagine thousands of people
doing this in unison.
Huh?
-What's the lyric?
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
-♪ We will, we will rock you ♪
-♪ We will, we will ♪
-♪ Rock you ♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Rami Malek, everybody.
