Rami Malek expressed initial hesitation before accepting a role in Ira Sachs' latest film, The Man I Love, due to the similarities it bore to his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody.
Facing the Fear
After reading the script, Malek was concerned about the parallels between his new character, Jimmy, a New York theater performer diagnosed with AIDS, and Mercury. "I said, 'I can't do this. There's too many similarities. It could be problematic,'" Malek stated during a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival.
"There was a certain sense of fear," Malek elaborated. "I started to really think about what I was afraid of. Was it the similarities? Was it the singing? Was it what was going on in the period? … I knew I had to address the fear. If there's anything Freddie taught me, it was [to] address the fear."
Trust in Ira Sachs
Despite his fears, Malek had long been eager to work with director Ira Sachs, known for films like Passages and Keep the Lights On. "I knew I was in extraordinary hands, and that if he was choosing me, I could rely on him," Malek said. "Not only to depend on him throughout the film, but to elevate it, to push myself, to force myself to race into that fire." Malek discovered that while Jimmy and Mercury shared some traits, they were also vastly different.
Jimmy vs. Freddie
Malek's character, Jimmy, required him to sing on camera again, but in a more intimate setting compared to Mercury's grand performances. "We have a legend in Freddie, who really had a destination, whereas Jimmy is just searching for creativity and love and intimacy and joy and pleasure in every moment," Malek explained. While audiences might see similarities between the two characters, Malek views them as "radically different figures altogether."
Director Sachs commented on this, highlighting Jimmy's internal ambition versus Mercury's external drive. "Jimmy represents a period in 1980s New York and the artists who inhabited it," Sachs noted. "There was a courage to do things because they wanted to impress the person who lived next door."
A New Kind of Gratification
For Malek, portraying Jimmy offered gratification different from Mercury's fame. "There are a lot of people who aspire to be someone like Freddie Mercury," he said. "But there are a lot of artists in the world who don't get to that level, but still have an immense abundance of talent and skill, and a world to offer that just maybe is unseen by the masses, but communally gets some recognition."
The film received an eight-minute standing ovation at Cannes, moving Malek to tears. Sachs, who co-wrote the script with Mauricio Zacharias, highlighted Malek's star quality as pivotal to the role. "With a film like this, you needed someone who had a certain kind of mystery, a certain kind of potential for the unexpected, but also truly a star quality," Sachs said.
Malek, reflecting on the experience, credited Sachs for drawing out a unique performance. "Ira is an actor's director, among all the other things he can do. We believed in each other." Malek's role in The Man I Love continues to demonstrate his ability to tackle challenging roles while evolving as an actor.
Source: https://variety.com/2026/film/festivals/rami-malek-fear-gay-drama-freddie-mercury-1236755809/
