© Getty Images

Andy on 'Gilmore Girls' - In 2004, Rami Malek got his first on-screen role as the character Andy in the fourth season of 'Gilmore Girls'.

© Getty Images

Hassan on 'Over There' - Foreshadowing a future and pivotal role, Malek played Hassan, an Iraqi prisoner, in two episodes of the Iraq war TV show 'Over There' in 2005.

© BrunoPress

Timothy Kercher on 'Medium' - In 2005 and during the second season of the psychic TV series 'Medium,' Malek played a psychiatric patient at a hospital.

© Getty Images

Kenny on 'The War at Home' - Malek finally got a recurring role on a TV show in 2005, playing the gay character Kenny in the family show 'The War at Home.' His character appeared in 21 episodes.

© BrunoPress

Ahkmenrah in 'Night at the Museum' - His first major motion picture appearance was as an Egyptian pharaoh come to life, Ahkmenrah (middle right), in 'Night at the Museum' (2006).

© BrunoPress

Ahkmenrah in 'Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian' - Back on the big screen in the sequel, Malek brought back his teenage pharaoh three years after the first film.

© BrunoPress

Ahkmenrah in 'Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb' - Completing the trilogy and performing alongside Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, and Owen Wilson, Malek reprised his role of Ahkmenrah in 2014. As you'll see, by then he was pretty well known in Hollywood.

© BrunoPress

Marcos Al-Zacar on '24' - While playing suicide bomber Marcos Al-Zacar in three episodes of '24' in 2010, star Kiefer Sutherland tried to convince Malek's character not to blow himself up.

© BrunoPress

PFC Merriell 'Snafu' Shelton on 'The Pacific' - Breaking out of the typecasting, Malek made major strides for his acting career in the mini-series 'The Pacific' (2010) by showing off his dark humor as PFC Merriell 'Snafu' Shelton.

© Getty Images

Steve Dibiasi in 'Larry Crowne' - In the Tom Hanks film 'Larry Crowne' (2011), Malek makes a very brief appearance as the distracted student Steve Dibiasi.

© Getty Images

Webb Porter on 'Alcatraz' - Playing serial killer Webb Porter, an aspiring violinist who drowns women, the sci-fi crime show 'Alcatraz' (2012) was Malek's first shot in a starring role. His character only appears in one episode, but the progression of his career from here is clear.

© Getty Images

Watch Officer in 'Battleship' -

Aboard Liam Neeson's 'Battleship' (2012), Malek is credited as playing Watch Officer.

© Getty Images

Clark in 'The Master' - In the star-studded film 'The Master' (2012), Malek criticizes Joaquin Phoenix's character in the few lines Malek is afforded.

© Getty Images

Benjamin in 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2' - In his first role as a vampire, Malek plays a bloodsucking member of the Egyptian coven in 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2' (2012).

© BrunoPress

Will in 'Ain't Them Bodies Saints'  - Malek played a minor character in the romance movie 'Ain't Them Bodies Saints' (2013), which was about an outlaw in Texas.

© Getty Images

Nate in 'Short Term 12' - In this 2013 film about a treatment facility, Malek plays the newest employee who's still trying to learn how to do his job.

© Getty Images

Browning in 'Oldboy' - In this 2013 remake of the South Korean classic, Malek plays a man at a desk who gets brutally murdered. It's the first Spike Lee film Malek is a part of.

© Getty Images

Dr. Adam Terry on 'Believe' - Malek played Dr. Adam Terry in the pilot of the supernatural TV show 'Believe' (2013), which only lasted one season.

© Getty Images

Finn in 'Need for Speed' - He's one of the gang in the 2014 movie about a street racer who gets framed for a crime.

© BrunoPress

Seneschal Higginbottom in 'Da Sweet Blood of Jesus' - In his second vampire flick and second collaboration with Spike Lee, Malek plays a supporting role in 'Da Sweet Blood of Jesus' (2014).

© Getty Images

Elliot Alderson on 'Mr. Robot' - Beginning in 2015, Malek starred in this critically-acclaimed TV show about a mentally unbalanced hacker who's trying to start a revolution. Few TV performances come close to his paranoid but perceptive monologues on 'Mr. Robot' (unsurprisingly, he won an Emmy for the role in 2016). The series finale aired in December 2019.

© Getty Images

Buster in 'Buster's Mal Heart' - In this 2016 perception-altering film that flew under most audiences' radars, Malek shows what he's made of and makes the the film all his own. 'Buster's Mal Heart' was Malek's first starring role in a film.

© BrunoPress

Louis Dega in 'Papillon' - In this 2017 film about a wrongfully convicted man attempting to escape prison, Malek plays a counterfeiter who assists in the jailbreak.

© Getty Images

Flip McVicker on 'BoJack Horseman' - Malek voiced the hopeless screenwriter Flip McVicker in the fifth season of the hit cartoon series in 2018.

© Getty Images

Freddie Mercury in 'Bohemian Rhapsody' -

It's by far his biggest role to date, and he has the Oscar to prove it. Rami Malek's portrayal of the late Freddie Mercury sent him catapulting into absolute stardom.

See also: How Freddie Mercury became somebody we all love.

© BrunoPress