Rami Malek Explains How His ‘The Amateur’ Character is Different From Other Thiller Protagonists

There is no denying that Rami Malek is an uber-talented actor. Coming into his own from USA Network’s TV series, Mr. Robot and then onto his award-winning portrayal of Freddie Mercury, Malek has run the gamut of roles. Now he has the role of Charlie in The Amateur updated remake. The original movie was in 1981, based on the book of the same name by spy author Robert Littell.

Rami Malek Plays Charlie Heller in The Amateur

With multiple spy thriller movies being like James Bond, or Jason Bourne, we grow to expect big action sequences, lots of special effects, and the occasionally shoot-‘em-up scenes. In The Amateur the effect that Charlie has is more insidious.

Charles Heller, who works for the CIA as a code decryption analyst (also known as a cryptologist), is seeking revenge for his wife’s violent death at the hands of terrorists. He must fight in a way that is different than confronting the enemy with violence. Charlie’s skills run deep in code breaking, puzzle solving, and making sense of highly classified programs, so he has this in his arsenal to use.

Rami Malek Explains How This Works in The Amateur

Rami’s role of Elliot in Mr. Robot was, for all intents and purposes, a nerd. He was extremely good at what he did, but was one of those people who preferred to be introverted and work in the shadows. Charlie Heller in The Amateur is quite similar. As an expert CIA cryptologist, Charlie must exact his own special brand of revenge on Schiller, played by Michael Stuhlbarg.

Through several plot twists (and a few predictable ones), we see Charlie take control of the situation. Remi Malek states to Pinkvilla that Heller’s transformation is not just physical, it is deeply emotional. The loss of his wife propels him to do things he didn’t think he could.

Rami Malek’s Heroic Turn in The Amateur

(Spoiler alert: Coming) As the movie progresses, Charlie seeks help from Henderson, played by Laurence Fishburne. Eventually, Charlie comes face-to-face with Schiller, who challenges Charlie to end his life. Instead, Charlie has used other ways to defeat Schiller, such as hacking into his ship’s navigation system. Hah! 

The Amateur shows us that there are many ways to fight the “bad guys.” We don’t always need to rely on brute strength, and force; there are other ways to help take down the evil empire.