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Egyption actor Rami Malek reveals that before he accepted his role as the villain in Bond 25, he insisted that his character will not be an Arabic-speaking terrorist or a villain who causes destruction in the name of religion.

In an interview with The Mirror, the Oscar winner stated, "That was one thing that I discussed with [director] Cary Fukunaga. 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’. But that was clearly not his vision. So he’s a very different kind of terrorist.”

The actor is known to have quite a deep sense of his Egyptian roots, In an interview with GQ Magazine he 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 enamored and intertwined with Egyptian culture. It is the fabric of who I am."

He also said, “I am very proud of where my family and I come from. It’s a unique vantage point – having parents who, at a massive risk, left their lives at home and came all the way to the foreign country so that their kids could have a life that perhaps gave them more opportunity."

We stan a king who stays true to his roots and is aware of representation in the film industry.

Bond 25 is set to release in April 2020.