Rami Malek opens up on working with Bryan Singer: “It was not pleasant”

Out of all the controversies surrounding this year’s Academy Award nominations, very few have been more polarizing than Bohemian Rhapsody. Despite being fired from Fox in December 2017, Bryan Singer remains credited as sole director per DGA guidelines, which has cast a large shadow over its nominations given the ensuing allegations levied against the filmmaker.

One nominee who’s certainly had to contend with that shadow is star Rami Malek. On Friday, the Best Actor nominee spoke to The Hollywood Reporter during a panel they moderated at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where he not only gave his support for the accusers who have come out against Singer, but also partly discussed his time working with him.

“My heart goes out to anyone who has to live through anything like what I’ve heard and what is out there,” Malek explained to the crowd. “It’s awful, it’s remarkable that this happens, I can appreciate so much what they’ve been through and how difficult this must be for them. In the light of the #MeToo era that this somehow seems to exist after that, it’s a horrible thing.”

He then pivoted into his own personal experiences. “I’ve sat here and talked about how everyone deserves a voice and anyone who wants to talk about what happened with Bryan deserves to have their voice heard,” Malek continued. “In my situation with Bryan, it was not pleasant, not at all. And that’s about what I can say about it at this point.”

Following the Oscar nomination in January, Malek spoke to The Los Angeles Times and admitted, “I think that the allegations and things were, believe it or not, honestly something I was not aware of, and that is what it is,” adding, “Who knows what happens with that … but I think somehow we found a way to persevere through everything that was thrown our way.”

Last month, even more men spoke out against Singer in a harrowing expose by The Atlantic, which detailed multiple acts that date back to over 20 years ago. Since then, Singer has continued to deny the allegations and currently remains attached to direct Red Sonja, much to the affirmations of producer Avi Lerner. He will reportedly make $40 million for Bohemian Rhapsody.

In related news, be sure to stream our recent discussion on the situation on the latest episode of Filmography, which features Film Editor and host Dominick Suzanne-Mayer, senior writer Clint Worthington, and yours truly.

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