Rami Malek Discusses No Time to Die Villain Safin

Rami Malek Discusses No Time to Die Villain Safin

As of this writing, James Bond’s latest feature, No Time to Die, is slated for April 2, 2021 — a full year removed from its original launch date — but that hasn’t stopped the cast and crew from dropping details to the fans. Case in point, in a recent interview with GQ, Rami Malek revealed some intriguing info about the villain Safin.

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“When I think about Safin I think about someone who is meticulous but measured, and there is something about that that is really unnerving and unsettling,” Malek said. “He’s someone that at times I feel gives you the sensation that you’re being watched and that again is quite unsettling. He asks you to question what you think is right, what you think is wrong and is your interpretation of those two things as accurate as it seems to be.”

He then discussed the difficulties involved with getting into such a character:

“I think you start asking questions about what evil is,” Malek pondered. “And with this character especially I find him fascinating because he can detach from empathy in order to meticulously carry out his will and I start to wrap myself up in who that person is psychologically.

“He’s ruthless and that might be – I’m in danger of giving too much away here – a result of something that’s happened to him. but even acknowledging that taps into the analytical side of him as well. I think the fact that he can still find a way to appreciate his own evil is something that is quite petrifying and psychologically something that was not easy for me to tap into.”

Confirmed cast members returning for the film include Daniel Craig reprising his iconic role as James Bond for the last time, Ralph Fiennes as M, Lea Seydoux (Spectre), Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, Ben Whishaw as A, with Rory Kinnear as Tanner and Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter. New cast members confirmed for the film include Dali Benssalah, Billy Magnussen, Ana De Armas, David Dencik, Lashana Lynch, and Rami Malek.

Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective) directs No Time to Die from a script written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade, Scott Z. Burns with Fukunaga and Emmy winner Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, Killing Eve).

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EON Productions and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios have partnered with Universal Pictures on the worldwide release of the 25th James Bond film. The superspy’s previous outing, Spectre, opened in U.S. theaters on November 16, 2015. The film earned $200 million domestically and $680.6 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $880.7 million.

You can pick up Daniel Craig’s entire James Bond filmography here.

No Time to Die was due to hit theaters in the UK on April 3, 2020, and on April 10, 2020, in the US, followed by its original delay to November 12, 2020, but is now scheduled for worldwide debut on April 2, 2021.