Rami Malek Agreed To Play The Bond 25 Villain On One Condition

Actor Rami Malek plays the villain in the upcoming 25th and untitled James Bond movie. Now, the Oscar winner has revealed that he needed a guarantee about the character before signing on. He told The Daily Mail that he discussed his intentions with director Cary Fukunaga, telling him that he wouldn't play the part if the character was a religious fundamentalist.

"It's a great character and I'm very excited," Malek said. "But that was one thing that I discussed with Cary. I said, 'We cannot identify him with any act of terrorism reflecting an ideology or a religion. That's not ­something I would entertain, so if that is why I am your choice then you can count me out.'"

That kind of character was "clearly not" what Fukunaga had in mind, Malek said, so he agreed to do the movie. The character Malek plays is a "very different kind of terrorist," he said.

Malek went on to say the script is "extremely clever," and it should be "exactly what people want" from a James Bond movie. Malek also said he feels "substantial pressure" to deliver in his performance given the weight of the history of the James Bond series.

Oscar winner Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) was initially tapped to direct Bond 25, but he dropped out due to "creative differences." Cary Fukunaga replaced Boyle before the film was delayed first from October 2019 to February 2020 and then again to April 2020.

Bond 25--which is not the final name--stars Daniel Craig as James Bond for the final time. Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, and Lea Seydoux will all reprise their roles for the film Jeffrey Wright and Ben Whishaw also return.

In June, a controlled explosion on-set went wrong, and one person was injured.