Leggi l'articolo su beautynews Rami Malek: the photo shoot and interview for L'Uomo

Recently, I experienced in real life what must be a fantasy for many women, men, directors, actors, producers and stylists: Rami Malek called out to me from across a bar. We were in Lower Manhattan, at Locanda Verde, and he’d been trying to find me, and I him. Although this was not long ago, it seems like it: back then the idea of meeting Malek in a New York bar was extraordinary, while now, in the age of coronavirus, the idea of meeting anyone in a bar is. Malek wore all black: a denim trucker jacket, black trousers and brogues, though normally he likes a combat boot. He’d changed after a long run, about 90 minutes. “It helps me clear the thoughts going around in my head,” he said. Like what, if I may be so bold? “That is bold,” he said. “Work, personal, all of the stuff. It’s nice to just have a bit of a reprieve, even if it’s out in the middle of New York City.” To get free of himself, Malek expresses New York City’s borders; its bridges. His work, all of it, even when he’s not acting, plays with the periphery.

One could forgive Malek for needing an outlet. He’s recently finished shooting the latest James Bond film No Time to Die, Daniel Craig’s final tour in Her Majesty’s Secret Service. It’s a film he can’t say much about – except that he’s the baddy – and has been delayed, as of this printing, until November 2020. Malek is also coming off the fourth and final season of Mr. Robot, a surreal dramatic series he led as Elliot, a young computer wizard on the edge of society, and his own sanity. That show ended on the heels of Malek’s Best Actor Oscar win for his turn as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, a performance that redefined what it was to carry a film – in that he subsumed it, without ever seeming to chew the scenery with that irrepressible set of teeth.

pagina 1 / 4 Wool sweater, straight denim jeans and leather Cole boots, Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello. Brigitte Lacombe

Some of the Oscar audience knew Malek from Mr. Robot, but for many he’d come out of nowhere – and yet he’s been at this, playing small parts on TV and in film, since 2004. Born in LA, along with his twin brother, in 1981, to parents of Egyptian heritage, his look – the sunken eyes; the unplaceable ethnicity; the sprightliness – is in contrast to his studied, considered, curious mode of speaking. This is not how A-list actors have looked. And yet he’s the face of Saint Laurent. Moreover, he is the certain face of an uncertain time, in both Hollywood and the world. Many of us are lost, as is Hollywood: we don’t know what will happen. Malek might not know either, but as we talked – about Bond, his family, books and boots – it became clear: he’s unwilling to look in the same old places. That’s how you make the fantasy real.

I was walking in Manhattan earlier, and I looked up and I saw you – 50 feet tall. Do you know you have a YSL billboard

pagina 2 / 4 in SoHo? Yeah. Yeah.

Do you care about fashion? I wouldn’t have been involved if I didn’t. I’ve enjoyed it since I’ve been a young man. I remember my dad, when I was a kid, would get up in a suit every day. You rarely saw the guy in shorts. It just gave him that extra edge of confidence and self-respect, and I think even the word “dignity” comes to mind.

Cotton shirt, suspenders, wool tailored trousers and leather Cole boots. All, Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello. Brigitte Lacombe

What kind of work did he do? Door-to-door insurance in Watts.

That is a tough job. I’ve done door-to-door sales. Not in Watts, mind you. I had a modest upbringing, I would say. He

pagina 3 / 4 somehow found a way to wear a different tie for every day of the week, which I thought was enviable. That connects me to fashion in a way. That’s where the roots for me exist.

How did you dress as a young guy? I was stealing things out of my dad’s closet, to the point where it could be quite upsetting to him. I don’t think he thought we appreciated them as much as we actually did. That’s exactly why we were taking them, because we recognised that the literal threads were better than what we were being afforded as kids. I could rock up in one of my dad’s suit jackets. At one point we became the same size, which was fortunate. I’ll still wear some of his stuff.

(Continues)

Fashion credits: Photographs by Brigitte Lacombe Styling by Ilaria Urbinati with Luca Galasso Grooming Cheri Keating @ The Wall Group Fashion assistants Sidney Munch, Max Munch, Brian White Props design Alice Martinelli Digital tech Brendan Burke Production Amy Fritz @ Lacombe Studio

Opening photograph: cotton polo shirt, cashmere sweater and straight denim jeans, Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello.

Read the full interview by John Ortved and see the photo shoot by Brigitte Lacombe in the October issue of L'Uomo, on newsstands from September 22nd

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