Rami Malek says he first turned down The Man I Love

Actor Rami Malek revealed he initially turned down the lead role in Ira Sachs’ new film, “The Man I Love,” due to fears it would draw problematic comparisons to his Oscar-winning portrayal of Freddie Mercury. Malek made the comments during a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival following the film’s world premiere, which received a lengthy standing ovation.

In the film, Malek plays Jimmy George, a gay performance artist navigating life and love in 1980s New York at the height of the AIDS crisis. The actor said his immediate reaction to the script was hesitation. He explained that he worried the similarities—a charismatic, singing queer man facing the epidemic—would be too close to his celebrated role as the Queen frontman, who died from AIDS-related complications in 1991.

“At first when I read the script I said, ‘No, I can’t do this. There’s too many similarities. It could be problematic,’” Malek told reporters. “There’s a certain sense of fear, and I started to really think about what I was afraid of.” He ultimately decided to take the role, he said, by applying a lesson from playing Mercury: “Address the fear.”

Malek said he soon realized the characters were...