Rami Malek, the Oscar-winning actor best known for his role in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, recently opened up about how difficult yet rewarding it was to work on his hit TV series ‘Mr. Robot’.
The actor, now 44, joined a special panel celebrating the show’s 10th anniversary at New York Comic Con. The discussion, hosted by ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast’s Josh Horowitz, brought Malek back to the intense world of Elliot Alderson. It was a brilliant but deeply troubled hacker struggling with addiction and mental health challenges.
Malek admitted that from the very first day, he knew ‘Mr. Robot’ would be a demanding experience. “There was a sense of gravity to that character from the very beginning,” he said. “Elliot carried so much grief and loneliness, but at the same time, there was this strange resilience in him that gave me hope about humanity.”
However, portraying such a complex and dark role came with emotional and physical strain. “It was a lot of mental gymnastics every day,” Malek confessed. “And I’m not going to lie. The schedule and Sam [Esmail, the show’s creator] put me through absolute hell.”
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Still, he doesn’t see it as a negative experience. Instead, Malek called it one of the most fulfilling challenges of his career. “I embraced it,” he said. “By the time Friday came each week, I felt like I had been through a battle. We only had seven days to shoot an episode, so I lived inside Elliot’s world nonstop. And that was not the easiest place to be.”
Despite the exhaustion, Malek said he wouldn’t change a thing. “It was worth every second,” he reflected. The show, which aired from 2015 to 2019, not only earned him widespread praise but also reshaped his professional life.
He spoke warmly about ‘Mr. Robot’ creator Sam Esmail, crediting him for believing in him at a time when few others did. “From Sam just wanting to cast me, seeing something in me, that had a profound effect on me,” Malek shared. “Even the fact that he thought I could take on this role was a huge moment in my career.”
Looking back, Malek says ‘Mr. Robot’ changed him both as an actor and as a person. “I owe an immense amount of gratitude to everyone involved. I learned so much from it and carried those lessons into every project afterward,” he said.