Rami Malek Says ‘Mr. Robot’ Creator Put Him ‘Through Absolute Hell’

Rami Malek admits that making the hit show Mr. Robot was no easy feat.

Malek discussed the series while attending a Mr. Robot 10th anniversary panel — moderated by Happy Sad Confused podcast host Josh Horowitz — at New York Comic Con on Thursday, Oct. 9. During the conversation, the actor reflected on his time playing the genius-yet-troubled Elliot Alderson, who struggled with addiction and mental health issues.

“There was a sense of gravity to that character from the very beginning. I mean the immense grief, profound alienation,” Malek, 44, said. “There was this unique resilience that I found in Elliot, day in and day out, that always imbued me with some sense of hope about humanity.”

However, he said playing such a dark and nuanced role took its toll.

“It was a lot of mental gymnastics day in and day out — and I’m not going to lie — [the] schedule and [show creator] Sam [Esmail] put me through absolute hell,” he admitted.

He continued, “But it was a challenge that I embraced and look back on with great pride. I mean, I would remember going through Monday to Friday [and] by Friday, I feel like I would look at my body and felt I had gone through … a bit of a battle.”

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The Oscar winner added, “We had seven days to shoot an episode, so there was no time to do anything but sit in Elliot’s skin — and that was not the easiest place to be.”

The Oppenheimer actor went on to say that, despite the grueling workload, he feels that his time on the show — which aired on USA from 2015 to 2019 — was “worth every second,” adding that the experience had a “profound” effect on his life.

“From Sam just wanting [to cast me] — seeing something in me — that had a profound effect on me. Even the acknowledgement that I could take on this role from his perspective was — that was a feat,” he recalled.

“Looking back on it now, this show changed my life [and I owe an] immense amount of debt and gratitude to everyone involved. I learned so much from it. I was able to carry myself a certain way going on to future projects,” he explained.

Malek also credits the show with helping him land his role as Freddie Mercury in 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody — for which he won the Oscar for Best Actor.

“I was discovered for Bohemian Rhapsody from producers having watched me in the show. So that was a huge launch. And sometimes you could see Freddie Mercury as this grand flamboyant extrovert, but there was very much a shy introvert in that human being as well. And I knew how to do that quite well,” he said.