Rami Malek may be snagging trophies left and right during the 2019 awards season, but it’s how he landed his first acting gig on Gilmore Girls — which earned him his SAG card — that also has people intrigued.
“I spent years trying to figure it out, and it was [casting director] Mali Finn who said, ‘If you can figure out how to get your headshot and résumé into the hands of the right people, that can be the impetus for getting a job,’” the Bohemian Rhapsody star, 37, explained to reporters backstage after winning best actor at the 2019 SAG Awards on Sunday, January 27.
“I woke up every morning and stuffed manila envelopes with my headshot and résumé and sent them to every agent in the city, every casting director for years. One day I got a call from the casting director of the Gilmore Girls. She asked to speak to my agent I said, ‘Speaking.’ She said, ‘Is this really Rami?’ I said, ‘Yes,’” Malek recalled. “She asked if I had an agent. I said, ‘No, but I can work on it.’ She asked if I was SAG. I said, ‘No, but that’s something we can figure out.’ She kept laughing. I had read the submission — it was three lines for a guest-starring role on the show — and I said, ‘You’re laughing now; it will take me 10 minutes to get to the studio.’ So she said, ‘OK, come on in.’”
Malek’s one-episode stint on the hit 2000s comedy show wasn’t the only humble beginnings story he shared on Sunday night. The California native also revealed that he spent years “delivering pizzas” with his headshot stuffed into the pizza boxes, hoping someone would call him for a job.
The Mr. Robot alum — who was joined by his girlfriend, Lucy Boynton, at the SAG Awards — is also up for the Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of the late Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic. Earlier this month, Malek won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture.
