Rami Malek Says “There Was A Certain Sense Of Fear” In Taking On ‘The Man I Love’ After Playing Freddie Mercury In ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ – Cannes

Before taking on a performing artist who is battling AIDs in 1980s New York in Ira Sachs‘ latest Cannes feature The Man I Love, star Rami Malek said, “I can’t do this, there’s too many similarities.”

Similarities to his Oscar winning Best Actor role of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody who also suffered from AIDs.

“It could be problematic,” he thought after he read the script. “There was a certain sense of fear.”

In The Man I Love, Malek plays fictional character Jimmy George, a well-known singer and performer, in 1980s New York. He’s just survived a three-week stay in a hospital after an HIV–spell. He ventures on, rehearsing for a stage piece based on André Brassard’s 1974 film Once Upon a Time in the East, playing the stormy and defiant Hélène, who sings with a band.

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