Rami Malek

"The Rover" Los Angeles Premiere - Arrivals

Malek in 2014, photo by Prphotos.com

Birth Name: Rami Said Malek

Place of Birth: Torrance, Los Angeles, California, United States

Date of Birth: May 12, 1981

Ethnicity:
*87.5% Egyptian
*12.5% Greek

Rami Malek is an American actor and producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Bohemian Rhapsody (2018). He played musician Freddie Mercury in the film. He has also starred, as Pharaoh Ahkmenrah, in the Night at the Museum films, and in the thriller The Little Things and the show Mr. Robot.

Rami’s parents, Nelly Abdel-Malek and Said Malek, are Egyptian immigrants, who came to the U.S. in 1978. He has said that he is also of one eighth Greek ancestry. His family is Coptic Christian. He has stated that he speaks Arabic “like a 10 year old” and that he grew up watching Egyptian movies with his parents.

Rami is one of two males born in 1980 or later to win an acting Oscar (Eddie Redmayne, for The Theory of Everything, 2014, was the first).

Rami has a family background in the town Samalut, Egypt. He has said:

There’s no first-generation, or second-generation removed. I am Egyptian. I grew up listening to Egyptian music. I loved Umm Kulthum. I loved Omar Sharif… These are my people. I feel so gorgeously tied to the culture and the human beings that exist there. I acknowledge that I have a different experience, but I am so enamoured and intertwined with Egyptian culture. It is the fabric of who I am.

Rami’s paternal grandfather was named Makhali Abdelmalek/Abdel Malek.

Rami’s paternal grandmother was named Juliette S. Guirguis.

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com

76 Responses

  1. Yeravam says:

    He looks whiter than most Egyptians I’ve seen, including Coptic ones.

  2. madman says:

    He is the son of Nelly and Said Malek.

  3. MadBadDog says:

    He plays a character named Elliot Alderson in Mr. Robot. Even when he has evident arab features, they chose an anglo-saxon surname instead of one that reflects his ethnic background. Isn’t this whitewashing?The main character always has to be ‘a white guy’ no matter what.

    • Wolfman says:

      That’s one of the stupidest things I’ve seen been posted on here you do know that? You’re saying he can pass as British is ridiculous and many would agree with me.

    • sitman18 says:

      In the show his mom is has dark features and looks either Middle Eastern or South Asian. His sister is played by an Ashkenazi Jew, who has slightly lighter features, but similar facial type.

  4. Peanut says:

    i know copts have less black admixture then the average egyptian cause they didnt take part in the arab slave trade and never mixed with west africans but i wouldve never guessed he’s egyptian, maybe palestinian or iraqi.

    • fuzzybear44 says:

      Copts were the biggest traitors to Egypt. Also like this guy said,Modern Copts are no more a representation of the ancient Egyptians than a white American mixed with indian, is a representation of the original indian inhabitants of the North American continent. Egyptians being mixed with black, has nothing to do with the arab slave trade. Black people were in Egypt from the beginning . The pale mutation didn’t take holed until about 5.5 to 7 000yrs ago, and that was outside of Africa going towards Europe. There are tribes living in Kenya today, that anthropologists say are the direct descendants of pre-dynasty Egyptians

      • bablah says:

        >Copts were the biggest traitors to Egypt

        How so? They’re the only ones that have preserved the Egyptian language, even if it’s only for religious purposes. Other Egyptians have been Arabized. Neither preserved their religion, so that actually puts Copts as lesser ”traitors” of Egyptian culture. Ethiopians are Christian too, are they also traitors?

        >There are tribes living in Kenya today, that anthropologists say are the direct descendants of pre-dynasty Egyptians

        In what way are they related? Do they speak a similar language or do they have other cultural aspects that conect them to Egyptians?

        • fuzzybear44 says:

          @bablah

          1. Quote( They’re the only ones that have preserved the Egyptian language)

          Using the Greek alphabet? Egyptians didn’t use letters , nor do we know how they really talked

          2. Quote(Other Egyptians have been Arabized. Neither preserved their religion, so that actually puts Copts as lesser ”traitors” of Egyptian culture.)

          Those Arabized Egyptians were Copts that converted(they converted and intermarried,by the boat load). The Coptic Church at first actually praised Muslims for coming to Egypt . They saw them as saviors for getting rid of the oppressors. You had Coptic monks telling the Muslims where the church kept the good stuff. You had monks becoming Taxes collectors on their own people. You Had Those converted Muslim reconverting to being Copts, then flipping back to Muslims

          3. Quote( Ethiopians are Christian too, are they also traitors?)

          There are almost 100 different groups there, Ethiopians were never one group. Some are jewish, while some are Muslim, and others are Christians. Also there are those that follow no fixed faith known world wide. The Ethiopian Copts were very loyal to the Egyptian Copts ,So no they weren’t traitors to anyone.

          4. Quote(In what way are they related? Do they speak a similar language or do they have other cultural aspects that conect them to Egyptians?

          Well first pre-dynasty Egyptians weren’t one group, they were multiple tribes. Next I don’t know what cultural aspects connect them. The Documentaries on those tribes in Kenya say they are pre-dynasty Egyptians(and they were very clear on that). It stated they lived in Kemet and migrated about 2000yrs ago to Kenya.Also there are ancient practices known to be Egyptian, that didn’t start in Egypt(like mummification),That started in the wet Sahara and moved to Egypt. So there’s no telling what practices later Egyptians might have adopted from these people. Modern day Egyptians don’t practice everything the ancient ones did. I’m sure the modern ones , don’t look anything like the ancient ones

          • bablah says:

            Does it matter what alphabet? That’s some serious nitpicking. Should English be written in Runes?

            >Arabized Egyptians were Copts that converted

            No, duh…

            >They saw them as saviors for getting rid of the oppressors

            So did the Jews, and look at Israel now.

            >There are almost 100 different groups there, Ethiopians were never one group.

            I know, but I’m talking specifically about the Christian ones that addopted Christianity way before lot of others did.

            >The Ethiopian Copts were very loyal to the Egyptian Copts ,So no they weren’t traitors to anyone.

            Hmm, so why are Copts traitors of Egypt for being Christian, but Ethiopians aren’t?

            >Documentaries on those tribes in Kenya say they are pre-dynasty Egyptians

            That’s a bit anachronistic, but I guess what you’re trying to say is that they’re DESCENDANTS of pre-dynasty Egyptians.

            >I’m sure the modern ones , don’t look anything like the ancient ones

            Does it matter what they look like? If I remmember correctly, you’re African American. If only people who looked like Comanches could claim to be American, then you wouldn’t be American. That would suck, right? Or if you told a Turk that he isn’t a Turk because he doesn’t look Central Asian, would he take it well? I doubt it. They feel Egyptian, and sure as heck have at least some descendence from ancient Egypt (it would be impossible to not have any, heck even the racist apartheid Afrikaners turn out to have some South African blood, what would stop Egyptians mixing with Arabs, Berbers and Greeks), and in some cases even speak Egyptian language (it’s not the same as Ancient Egyptian, but neither is Greek same as Ancient Greek, because languages evolve at high speeds). I’m failing to see why are they traitors.

          • fuzzybear44 says:

            @bablah

            1. Quote(Does it matter what alphabet? That’s some serious nitpicking.)

            It’s not nitpicking, it’s being truthful. You said they preserved the Egyptian language, but they didn’t. What they preserved, was a new hybrid language that they put together

            2.Quote(Hmm, so why are Copts traitors of Egypt for being Christian, but Ethiopians aren’t?)

            I never stated that, that’s something extra you added

            3. Quote(That’s a bit anachronistic, but I guess what you’re trying to say is that they’re DESCENDANTS of pre-dynasty Egyptians.

            That is what I stated. However I also stated that this information comes from documentaries that I have seen on those tribes
            Turkana – Vampires of the Desert
            (the first 30seconds of the documentary , the narrator says this tribe comes from Egypt, and the Sudan over 2000yrs ago)

            Pokot tribe- Their documentary the narrator also mention the possibility of them coming from pre-dynasty Egyptian

            Teso tribe- Also

            Are they from ancient Egypt , I don’t know. What I do know is that African people moved around a lot in the past for different reasons, so who knows

            4. Quote(Does it matter what they look like?)

            Well it definitely does to them. Seeing how they go out their way to say that the ancient Egyptians looked like them. Yet anyone with 20/20 can see that’s not true. Yet they’re on their t.v. shows yelling to the point of almost having a heart attack, that they were always like they are today. I’ve seen documentaries where they made all the people black, but the pharaoh and his family were all white. Also if you’re going to teach history , tell the truth

            5. Quote(If I remmember correctly, you’re African American. If only people who looked like Comanches could claim to be American, then you wouldn’t be American.

            Yes I answer to African American. Now while I do have verified native ancestry from 3 great grandparents, Which I think gives me some entitlement to this land, I’m fine with being called a black man( so no it wouldn’t suck to me).

            6, Quote(They feel Egyptian, and sure as heck have at least some descendence from ancient Egypt (it would be impossible to not have any, heck even the racist apartheid Afrikaners turn out to have some South African blood)

            I didn’t say they weren’t related to the ancient Egyptians, I simply said they didn’t look anything like them. I have often stated, that you can be related to someone, and not look like them

            7. Quote( I’m failing to see why are they traitors.)

            I call them that, because every time someone came through, they bent over. I ‘m not asking you to agree with me, I’m just making a statement

          • sitman18 says:

            Regardless of script, Coptic is a direct descendant of the ancient Egyptian language. We have very realistic depictions of Old Kingdom Egyptians and they look 100% West Eurasian and almost identical to modern Copts (and many modern Egyptian Muslims). They look nothing like Bantu Africans. I don’t know what documentary you watched, but I do know that it has no scholarly merit.

      • Peanut says:

        – it has a lot to do with the arab slave trade, 30% of the sub-saharan dna in north africans is west african/bantu dna
        from the 11 million slaves who were brought to north africa, starting 1,400 years ago. copts only have native east african admixture, north african and middle eastern arabs have dna from both groups cause they had slaves and mixed with them and/or their descendants.

        – copts dont cluster with arabic egyptians, the coptic genetic component comprises of berber dna, which has been in north africa for for at least 12,000 years and dna from ancient middle eastern farmers, who migrated to east africa 3,000 years ago. all non-bantu east africans, from horners to ari to the maasai have at least 20% admixture from that one migration. copts never really mixed with arabs.

        – alleles for light skin didnt exist in europe until 7,800 years ago, but they did in the middle east. the light skinned dark haired early european farmers migrated from the middle east to europe and mixed with the native dark skinned blue eyed western european hunter-gatherers (and later with ancient north eurasians) and became modern europeans with alleles for light skin.

        – there are no autosomal dna studies on any ancient egyptians, all the mummies were too dried out to extract autosomal dna, and ancient-dna studies on skeletons are still in early stages of development. some nilotics in kenya might share haplogroups or some genetic markers with ancient egyptians, but so do modern egyptians. unless we have a full autosomal dna study nobody can say who the direct descendants are, or if they even still exist.

      • sitman18 says:

        Complete nonsense. We have ancient Egyptian DNA and Copts are by far the closest genetically. Like other Middle Eastern Christians, they derive the vast majority of their ancestry from ancient inhabitants of the land. The only “anthropologists” who claim that Bantu African from Kenya today are direct descendants of pre-dynastic Egyptians are Afro-centrist conspiracy theorists.

        • midori29 says:

          @Sitman the anchient Egyptians were black period. You can view the hieroglyphics to see the clear pics of black people. The Greeks in Egyptian hieroglyphics were shown with clearly whiter skin.

          • Lee says:

            There is obviously a range of skin tones among people of European descent, white is NOT nor was it ever among them “white” is a cultural identity.has nothing to do with skin color, the ancient Egyptians weren’t “black” just had a large amount of Melanin/Brown and they hailed from a warm environment/climate. Cold Weather = Light Skin, Warm Weather = Dark Skin… When you’re exposed to sunlight your skin will darken.

    • midori29 says:

      @Peanut the Arab slave trade had mostly East Africans NOT as much West Africans.

    • SClife says:

      Rami is mixed with Greek. That’s why he looks so different than let’s say Mena Massoud who is also Christian. Mena Massoud is tanned with very North African features like most Egyptians. Egyptians have unique look, they don’t look Middle Easterners, they have unique facial structure.

  5. Adamina says:

    He is unconventionally handsome

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