Th Oscar winner fought through shock and awe that he’s even showing a movie at an esteemed film festival like Cannes.
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Ahead of the world premiere of The Man I Love in competition at Cannes, Rami Malek joined his director and co-writer Ira Sachs for a Kering Women in Motion Talk.
“I never get used to these moments. Cannes is not something I ever, ever expected. The fact we’re here right now is something I’m trying to savor. It feels a bit surreal.”
Malek credited Sachs for bringing out “a performance in me that I don’t think I would give in another situation,” adding: “Ira is an actor’s director, among all the other things he can do. We believed in each other.”
“The canon of his work speaks for itself. What a unique artist that we can all cherish. These are timeless films that Ira has put into the world. They will live on and we’ll go back to them for feelings that certain aspects of cinema don’t give us. There’s great intimacy and empathy.”
The Man I Love marks another exploration of a queer character for Malek, who won an Oscar for portraying music legend Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody.
The victory put Malek in the history books as the first performer of Egyptian descent to win the Oscar for best actor.
“All over the world, I think people can relate to what it feels like to be an immigrant… that comes with some weight. To be able to connect to that accomplishment in some way and hopefully inspire anyone fills me with some sense of pride that is greater even than doing the work itself.”
The Man I Love premieres in competition at Cannes Fest on May 20.
