Rami Malek Says His Bond Villian Was Partially Inspired By Freddie Mercury

It seems that Freddie Mercury is still a part of Rami Malek’s career, even after he’s done playing the role. In an interview with Empire, Malek said that his villain Safin in the James Bond sequel No Time To Die is partially inspired by the Queen frontman, whom he played in last year’s Bohemian Rhapsody. Here are highlights:

On how his portrayal of Mercury inspired him for this role: “If I went in there and tried to make a carbon copy of someone, what joy or fun would that be for anybody? I guess that may be a lesson I learned from Mr. Mercury. If it’s not original, then why bother? I’ve pocketed some things from some of my favorites. But I tried to every day imbue this character with something I thought made sense for the character, but might also at the same time be shocking and unnerving.”

On Safin’s voice: “I wanted to create something that we couldn’t quite peg from any particular part of the world.”