After his Oscar-winning portrayal of the queer icon in the 2018 biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the actor hesitated to accept the lead in Ira Sachs’ musical drama “The Man I Love.”

Rami Malek was afraid to play gay character in new movie after Freddie Mercury role: ‘I can’t do this’

After his Oscar-winning portrayal of the queer icon in the 2018 biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody," the actor hesitated to accept the lead in Ira Sachs' musical drama "The Man I Love."

By Sharareh Drury

May 21, 2026 1:54 p.m. ET

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Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury in 2018's 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. Credit: Alex Bailey/Fox

- Rami Malek almost passed on starring in Ira Sachs' musical drama *The Man I Love *because of his previous role as Freddie Mercury in the biopic *Bohemian Rhapsody*.

- "When I read the script, I said, 'I can't do this,'" admitted Malek, who was worried about "similarities" between the characters.

- *The Man I Love *premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, where it received an eight-minute standing ovation.

Despite winning an Oscar for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in *Bohemian Rhapsody*, Rami Malek says he hesitated to take on another queer character in Ira Sachs' new musical drama, *The Man I Love. *

In the movie, the actor plays Jimmy, a New York theater performer who continues to pursue his passion after being diagnosed with AIDS in 1980s New York City.**

"When I read the script, I said, 'I can't do this,'" Malek admitted during a press conference at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival this week, adding that he found "too many similarities" between the role and his turn as the queer Queen frontman, who was also diagnosed with AIDS and ultimately died from complications of the disease at the age of 45 in 1991.**

Rami Malek in 'The Man I Love'.

Because he thought playing the character "could be problematic," the star said, "There was a certain sense of fear."

But Malek challenged himself. "I started to really think about what I was afraid of," he continued. "Was it the similarities? Was it the singing? Was it what was going on in the period? … I knew I had to address the fear. If there's anything Freddie taught me, it was [to] address the fear."

What ultimately assuaged his concerns was Sachs' ability to make "unique cinema unlike any other." The director has helmed several acclaimed indie dramas — including *Forty Shades of Blue, Keep the Lights On*, *Love Is Strange*, *Little Men*, and* Passages — *and his latest earned him a glowing response after its premiere at Cannes, with the audience giving it an eight-minute standing ovation.

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"I knew I was in extraordinary hands and that if he was choosing me, I could rely on him," Malek said of *The Man I Love.* "Not only to depend on him throughout the film, but to elevate it, to push myself, to force myself to race into that fire. When I raced into it, I started to discover that these men were similar, but they were also worlds apart."**

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Rami Malek in 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. Twentieth Century Fox

Though Malek does sing in Sachs' film, the *Mr. Robot* actor noted that it's about as far as the similarities go between Jimmy and the "We Will Rock You" singer at the center of the 2018 musical biopic.

"We have a legend in Freddie, who really had a destination, whereas Jimmy is just searching for creativity and love and intimacy and joy and pleasure in every moment," Malek said. "He can sing. Does he sing as well as Freddie? No. If he needs to learn kabuki, he's going to throw himself into it, and [throw himself] into onnagata, and I did. Was it ever going to be perfect? Didn't have to be. It was just about this element of creating and living and joy. New York, in that period, was a very different time."

"I see them as two radically different figures altogether," Malek added, "especially as I have some more distance from it."

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW LGBTQ”