Rami Malek seems like a nice guy who tries very hard to never make the wrong move or say anything controversial. But that also makes him kind of… boring? That’s how I felt as I read Rami’s cover profile in the September issue of GQ: kind of bored. I mean, he’s not yammering on and on about his actor’s process, but he’s also not a quote machine or interested in giving any kind of soundbyte.

So, there’s a chunk of the profile devoted to how he’s sort of clumsy and he’s always falling down or running into walls whenever he has to do any kind of action on-screen. There’s a chunk of the profile devoted to his crazy preparedness for each and every role, to the point where I kind of wonder if Rami is on the spectrum, or perhaps has some kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder which has been undiagnosed. And there’s a chunk of the profile devoted to Rami popping into a Goop store out of the blue to pick up some thinking-of-you gifts for his girlfriend Lucy Boynton (he chooses fancy deodorant and a delicate necklace). You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:

His parents moved from Cairo to LA: “I mean, my parents weren’t exactly—they didn’t love the idea of me being an actor. They came to this country from Egypt so we could have a very successful life. They put every dollar they had into our education, and to see it being thrown into this game of risk and chance that, for many, seemed destined for failure.… It was not the best ending to the really trying aspect of them moving their entire lives, that upheaval from Cairo to Los Angeles to start anew.”

He loves how orderly film sets are: “If the world collectively worked in a similar fashion to the way a film set operates, we would be much more efficient and much more considerate of one another.”

He’s very observant: “I remember always feeling like I could see people’s agendas a mile away, even at five or six years old. Do you think that’s a common thing with children? Isn’t that how we define who our friends are?”

When he lived at home with his parents, he kept his scripts hidden away from other eyes. “I never wrote in them. I wanted them to have this religious quality to them. If I could put them in a special box, I would.”

He hasn’t changed since winning an Oscar: “People’s perception might be altered, but when you sit down and talk to me, there’s nothing that’s mystifying. I’m not f-king covered in gold.”

[From GQ]

He seems like a hard worker with a particular kind of (first-generation American, son of immigrants) mentality. He toiled away in thankless acting gigs for years before getting Mr. Robot and then Bohemian Rhapsody. And now he’s the new Bond villain too. I mean… at the end of the day, I like him and wish him well. But I’m struggling to stay awake while reading and writing about him too! It wouldn’t hurt for Rami to take his extreme-preparedness to a place where he could prepare some funny stories to tell in interviews, maybe? Or maybe GQ could have actually done the thing and asked him directly about Bryan Singer AGAIN because Rami managed to win an Oscar for a performance largely directed by Singer and Rami barely had to speak about him.

.@magicmolly talked to @ItsRamiMalek for the September issue of GQ: https://t.co/INbNzDJnbB pic.twitter.com/KTKHz7vaut

— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) August 19, 2019

Photos courtesy of GQ.