Film

Rami Malek Has Announced He’ll Be The Next Bond Villain In Another Deeply Uncomfortable Video

The dude seems determined to turn creeping people out into an art form.

by Joseph Earp  26 April 2019
Rami Malek announces his role in the new James Bond film

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Rami Malek has had a weird few months.

Sure, he won an Oscar (and promptly fell off the stage, which is a pretty wild way to celebrate the pinnacle of your film career), but far more memorably, he appeared in a short, genuinely horrifying video in which he tried and failed to come across as a human being.

The video, an advert for an international hotel chain, sees Malek list some of his favourite things, including chamomile tea and his mum, all while clearly trying to hide the fact that he is a man who knows exactly how long the human intestine is.

Well, clearly the producers of the new James Bond film checked out the clip too, because it has today been announced that Malek will be playing Bond’s nemesis in the still untitled Bond 25.

Reaction to the news has been mixed. Malek’s reputation has suffered a bit of a hit as a result of his appearance in Bohemian Rhapsody, directed by alleged pederast Bryan Singer, and the controversy wasn’t helped by the fact that he won the Oscar for a film that people felt was: A) deeply undeserving of its awards season plaudits, and B) actually unethical. That has led to some digital groaning about the casting announcement, and a general desire to see less Malek, thank you very much.

On the other hand, people have pointed to the actor’s deeply uncomfortable aura as making him a perfect fit for the role. What more does a Bond villain need than the ability to make everyone vacate their immediate surrounds?

For his part, Malek has celebrated the news the only way he knows how: by dropping another deeply uncomfortable video.

Opening the short clip up by whinging about the fact that he has to be in New York rather than Jamaica, the actor goes on to hone the steely stare that has become his trademark. “I promise you all I will be making sure that Mr. Bond does not have an easy ride in this, his 25th outing,” he says in the voice you use to announce that there is nothing to be done; you have already launched the nukes.

Needless to say, for the internet, this all feels very familiar.

Never stop being you, Rami.