All About Rami Malek's Twin Brother Sami Malek

Rami Malek's brother Sami works as an English teacher

Rami Malek and his twin brother chose to take very different career paths.

The Bohemian Rhapsody actor has an identical twin brother, Sami Malek, who works as a high school English teacher. Though both prefer life out of the spotlight, Rami gained global recognition after he starred as Elliot Alderson in Mr. Robot.

The two grew up in Los Angeles as the sons of Egyptian immigrants Nelly and Said Malek and were the youngest of three children. They also have an older sister named Yasmine, who is a doctor.

While Rami has often said he and Sami were “troublemakers” as kids, the pair have become vital to each other’s support systems. Along with the rest of their family, Sami is often on hand for all of his brother’s major award shows, including the 2019 Oscars, and Rami has been vocal about commending his twin’s hard work as a teacher.

So, who is Rami Malek’s twin brother? Here’s everything to know about Sami Malek.

He is of Egyptian descent

Nelly and Said welcomed their twins Rami and Sami on May 12, 1981, in Los Angeles. The pair joined their older sister, who is named Yasmine.

Rami and his siblings grew up speaking Arabic and practicing other cultural traditions, which the actor told The New Yorker made them stand out while growing up in the U.S.

“I felt that we stuck out like a sore thumb, as a family, our traditions,” he said. “Going to school with that type of consciousness, and feeling like we were wearing our heritage on our sleeves, was always something that was confusing.”

In an essay for TIME's 100 Most Influential People of 2019 list, Robert Downey Jr. praised Sami and the rest of Rami’s family for pushing him toward success.

“I contend that his mother Nelly, his father Said, his sister Yasmine and his brother Sami are the foundational pillars to his rise,” Downey Jr. wrote. “Mighta just been destiny … more likely it’s yet another testament to hardworking immigrants raising their kids right and pushing our culture toward the light.”

He was mischievous as a kid

The twins may have read classic literature with their father as kids, but they were also mischievous. Rami told Esquire UK he and his brother ran a scheme in elementary school that got other students free pizza.

“If you read a book you got a gift certificate to Pizza Hut or something. My brother and I got our dad’s tape recorder and we would read the books on tape and sell them to the other kids so they could not only get the scores they needed but also cash in on some free pizza,” he said. “We saw an opportunity and we took it. I was a pretty resourceful kid.”

Sami asked Rami to pretend to be him for a college class

In college, Rami and Sami took their mischievousness to another level. During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, the actor revealed that the two swapped places in college so Sami could pass a class.

“He calls me one day, I had just gotten back from theater school — we went to different colleges — and he calls me in a panic, saying, ‘Hey, do you know a Greek monologue from a Greek tragedy?' I’m like, ‘Yeah, of course, I’ve just been doing this for four years,’ ” the actor recalled. "He goes, ‘I need you to do this for my class, it’s going to get me the points I need to get me my degree. I’m short on these units, she’s offering points if anybody comes in and does this monologue.' ”

The monologue went so well that the professor asked Rami if he could perform it for her other classes.

“I go, ‘Did I get the points that I’m going to need to pass the class and get my degree?’ She goes, ‘Yeah, you got the points.’ I go, ‘My car’s parked in the red, I gotta go!' ” he said, laughing.

Their father died in 2006

Said died in 2006 when the twins were in their mid-20s. Speaking with Esquire UK in February 2020, Rami revealed that it was their father who gave the twins and their sister an education in classic literature and movies. He called Said “one of the best storytellers” and shared that they would often read Ian Fleming novels and Arthur Miller plays together.

“After dinner you’d almost gravitate towards him because you knew something good was coming, especially if he had at least two of us there, and if it was all three kids… he was gifted to say the least,” Rami said.

Sami is a teacher

Sami works as a high school English teacher, according to the STEM Academy of Hollywood’s website. He double-majored in American literature and culture and African-American studies at UCLA before earning a Master of Arts in secondary English education from Loyola Marymount University.

He started his teaching career by working for the non-profit organization Teach for America and later taught middle school English before moving on to high school.

Sami attended the Golden Globes and Oscars with Rami in 2019

Sami supported Rami during awards season in 2019, accompanying his brother to the Golden Globes and the Oscars. Rami was nominated for his performance as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody and took home the trophies at both award shows, which was no surprise to Sami.

“Well, I could tell you I’m speechless, but at the same time, I kind of figured my boy had it in the bag because he killed it,” Sami told Access Hollywood after the Oscars. He added that he and his family would “revel in it” and “hang with him [Rami]” to celebrate the actor’s big win.

Sami participated in the teacher strike in 2019

Rami returned the support that same year when his brother participated in the teacher strike in L.A. in a fight for more public school funding. Sami dressed up as a cowboy for the strike and was spotted holding a sign that read: "Wanted smaller class sizes," followed by "Reward higher student achievement."

“I know how hard teachers work and how dedicated they are to their students,” Rami tweeted. “I support my brother and all other teachers in their fight for the schools their students deserve. #istandwithlateachers.”

The twins don’t look identical anymore

Though Rami and Sami are identical twins, the No Time to Die actor doesn’t believe they look so similar anymore. During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show in October 2018, Rami said their appearance has differed as they’ve grown older.

“Well, we were identical, we were born identical, and somewhere around, I don’t know, 18, we started to diverge a little bit,” Rami said.

When host Graham Norton pulled up a photo of the pair to show their resemblance, Rami insisted that, to him, he and Sami “do not look identical.”

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