Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • -My first guest is an Oscar winner

  • starring alongside Denzel Washington and Jared Leto

  • in -- in the new film "The Little Things,"

  • which will be in theaters this Friday and on HBO Max.

  • Here is Rami Malek. -What up, baby?!

  • -Rami Malek, hello and welcome back to "The Tonight Show."

  • You're looking fantastic. Look at this look.

  • You're pulling it off again. Another look.

  • -I'm pulling off another look, man.

  • -You know what's so weird? Like, now -- I have kids now,

  • and I've never seen the "Night at the Museum" movies.

  • And here you walk in, and I go, "What?! What?!"

  • -Dude.

  • -It's the biggest thing. My kids love you.

  • -Oh, Frannie and Winnie. Give them my love.

  • -Yeah, dude. Exactly. Oh, my gosh.

  • -The best part of that experience

  • was, you know, Ben was great to me.

  • -Yeah. Good.

  • -I'll tell you something that nobody really knows,

  • is I was playing that role so camp at first.

  • Maybe not "camp" is the right word,

  • but I was going for it.

  • This guy was supposed to be in a sarcophagus

  • at Cambridge University, and I popped out of that coffin

  • and I played it like a British dandy,

  • and the studio was like, "Nuh-unh!"

  • -Did you really? -And so -- Yeah.

  • And so I went back to Los Angeles from Canada,

  • and I'm like, "I don't think that went very well."

  • But Stiller and I got along exceptionally well.

  • And he was laughing at a few ad libs that I was throwing out,

  • so I was like, "Something's telling me

  • that some part of this went right,

  • but some part of it went horribly wrong."

  • -Wow. -'Cause I feel uncomfortable.

  • They're calling me back for a makeup test.

  • My agent calls me and goes,

  • "There's a breakdown coming out for this role again."

  • So I was like, "I'm getting fired."

  • -That's not good.

  • -The only reason that I got back and had to re-audition

  • was because Stiller said,

  • "Nah. I think you guys are making a mistake here."

  • So that was one super-cool thing.

  • The other great thing was Robin Williams

  • for, you know, three movies -- -Yeah.

  • -And, sad, but on the third one,

  • we're shooting at the British Museum at night,

  • and we have the place all to ourselves.

  • And Robin -- you could tell something

  • was happening with him, right?

  • He had -- He would go on these riffs every once in a while

  • and light up the world, and you'd be like,

  • "Oh, my God. Who are you?" -"Who is this?"

  • -And then dip back down into this other place.

  • He'd see us all on our phones and devices,

  • and he'd be like,

  • "What happened to this? What happened to this?"

  • And so I see him kind of veer off, and he walks off alone,

  • and he's just kind of staring at this massive rock

  • in the British Museum.

  • And I'm like, "Oh, man.

  • What's going on with him? Is he all right?"

  • So I walk up to kind of say, "Is everything okay?"

  • And he looks at me,

  • just kind of slightly over the shoulder, and he goes,

  • "How often do you get to be alone with the Rosetta Stone?"

  • -[Stammers]

  • That's the best story I've ever heard in my life.

  • -Amazing right? -Wow!

  • And you were like, "Apparently not enough

  • because I just interrupted you."

  • [ Laughter ]

  • -It was so good. -I always love talking to you.

  • The last time I talked to you, we were at the Time 100.

  • And I don't know if you remember. It was --

  • I mean, it was -- Every cool person was there.

  • It was actually a really great night.

  • Nancy Pelosi --

  • You and I and Nancy Pelosi hung out and took a photo.

  • -Well, yeah. -Look at this.

  • Look how tan I was.

  • -It was so cool to hang out with you there and her there.

  • And, you know, she was a fan of "Bohemian Rhapsody."

  • I was like, "Well, I'm a fan of you, Nancy."

  • -Yeah. -But she dug the movie,

  • which was cool.

  • -You went on to win the Oscar. You won the Academy Award.

  • -It was such a trip, man. It was such a trip.

  • The coolest part is -- We had to keep it under wraps,

  • but Queen opened that night, if you remember.

  • -Yes. -And so you hear that music --

  • And because, you know,

  • I've spent almost two years preparing for it --

  • I'm kind of instantly brought back

  • to the first moment of acknowledging

  • that I might play this man and what that meant,

  • and so the whole thing kind of came full circle,

  • and I had my mom there and my brother and sister...

  • -No!

  • -So, for me, it's -- The statue is everything.

  • The experience just kind of

  • was overwhelming for so many reasons.

  • Speaking of Mom, on Friday,

  • she's got a very special birthday.

  • So, I love you, lady. Happy birthday.

  • -Aww. Mom, we love you.

  • Look what you made. What a great kid.

  • Look what you did. Look what you made.

  • Brought into the world. How cool is this guy?

  • -And to piggyback off of family, I mean, you guys --

  • One, I just have to appreciate

  • what you've done with the show given the circumstances, man.

  • It's been so intimate, and I know we're talking to each other

  • as family and friends often through this medium,

  • but to get to kind of have these really intimate,

  • you know, thoughtful, still very funny

  • but extremely personal and fulfilling moments

  • with you every night means a lot.

  • And, you know, you and -- At the beginning.

  • And Nancy and Winnie and Frannie

  • getting on and putting that together was just --

  • It was kind of healing in a way, I got to say.

  • So thank you. -Oh, my gosh.

  • I will tell everyone. My kids love you, man.

  • They're obsessed.

  • They can't wait to see "The Little Things."

  • -[ Laughing ] -They're so excited.

  • They love murder whodunit crime with three --

  • By the way, how about --

  • Adding to your list of cool things,

  • you get to do a movie with Denzel Washington.

  • -It's one of those moments, you know --

  • I try not to go back to the trailer to escape the set.

  • I'm like, "I'm with Denzel. Ask him some questions."

  • -Anything. -Ask him some questions.

  • And he gets a lot of questions.

  • He gets, you know, the Oscar question a lot.

  • Like, "Where do you keep your Oscar?"

  • And he made me laugh.

  • He said, "Next to the other one."

  • -[ Laughs ] -Which I found very amusing.

  • -Yeah. That's a great answer. Oh, man.

  • -It was a good one.

  • -How do we describe the movie?

  • -I mean, I can give you a long-winded answer,

  • but you know what it is?

  • It's this 1990s psychological thriller

  • that feels like a throwback movie

  • we've kind of been yearning for, for so many years, right?

  • We don't see these movies often.

  • And it is gripping to the very last second.

  • -It's awesome. I want to show a clip.

  • Here is Rami Malek and Denzel Washington

  • in "The Little Things." Take a look.

  • [ Radio chatter ]

  • -Really. This is how you spend your time off?

  • -What do you got? -Deceased fits the M.O.

  • Stab wound, ligature, killed elsewhere.

  • -She a floater? -Yeah.

  • They dumped overflow in here a few days back.

  • Guessing there's mud in her cavities.

  • Shallow grave most likely.

  • ♪♪

  • You ready to tell me about Mary Roberts?

  • ♪♪

  • Your boy Stan Peters swallowed a 12-gauge late last night.

  • ♪♪

  • -Rami Malek, everybody. "The Little Things"

  • is in theaters this Friday and available on HBO Max.

  • Thanks so much for coming on. Always great to see you, buddy.

  • -It's a pleasure, man. Thank you for everything.