Long before Rami Malek slipped into Freddie Mercury’s teeth for Bohemian Rhapsody and brought the famed queer rocker back to life, and before his star-making role as the awkward tech wiz Elliot on USA’s Mr. Robot, he played gay teen Kenny on the Fox sitcom The War at Home. Who knew?!
The War at Home ran for two seasons from 2005 through 2007 and focused on the Golds, a wacky Jewish family on Long Island.
Kenny, Malek’s character, is an Arab-American teen who comes out in the second season. His parents kick him out of his home and he comes to live with his friend, Larry Gold.
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“I’d like to say I was a genius at casting,” The War at Home creator Rob Lotterstein tells THR. “But sometimes it’s just so obvious when someone walks in the room how talented they are and they basically cast themselves — and that was Rami.”
“It was a challenge for Rami playing this character,” Lotterstein adds. “He was given this big responsibility of being a teen character coming out of the closet on network TV. It really elevated the show to some of our best work.”
Check out a supercut of Malek’s work on The War at Home:
MacAdvisor
Wow, never saw the show, but Malek was good at this gay stuff. You know, for a straight guy.
ModeI
I agree, he is cool
Blackceo
How did I never see this show?
Raymundo
I saw this show back in the days where I had to go through sh*t to find lgbtq folk. He was one of the only decent people in it.
Greg
That was funny. I’ve never seen this show.
Bryguyf69
Few people have…
RIGay
Yes, runs like a Fox show from the mid-2000’s (I recall a lot of the innuendo from “That 70’s Show”). They pushed a lot of boundaries back then.
crowebobby
Really beside the point, but he was so much better looking then than now. Looks like an entertaining show; I was living in Europe and never heard of it.
Bryguyf69
You should check out his quasi-identical twin brother, a math teacher. The two were on Jimmy Kimmel. Google “Rami Malek brother.”
tazz602
I knew – I’ve been a fan of his since this show. He was really good on it.
Darsithis
There are videos on Youtube between 1 to 2 hours that are just his scenes and the supporting elements. I’ve watched them many times. He perfectly encapsulated many of the ways that we lived as teens, ourselves, when we were struggling with attraction, unsure who to trust, afraid of what might happen.
Terrycloth
Love this…want to own.it on.dvd..amazon has it season 1 ..they mever put season 2 on dvd.reading reviews it iscomplaint after complaint about how bad the dvds are and most wont play ..too bad i wanted to see it badly
Bryguyf69
I think our LGBT archive has decent copies of season 2. Might upload the 2nd season if we have it and I find the time. Sadly, I personally have never seen the show but that’s true of the thousands of videos we have. I think I have only watched 5% of the movies we have, and 17% of the TV shows and documentaries. Haven’t even watched landmark movies like Brokeback Mountain, Love,Simon, Call Me By Your Name, or Boy Erased. Even my girlfriend has seen them — and loved them.
But few people can beat me on obscure and foreign LGBT movies and shows. Recently favorites include The Center of My World (German) and Patrik 1.5 (Sweden). Two distinctions between American and foreign movies are: The Europeans actually use teen actors to play teens, even for the sex scenes, e.g. The Center of My World. And positive adult gay characters are much more realistic, not idealized or stereotypical like they often are in the US. Sorry, but that means average looking men! Heh. Stream those movies.
I’m currently busy with a project highlighting musical moments in LGBT movies and shows but if I find the time, I’ll upload The War at Home. Speaking of gay musicals, look up the movie, Les Chansons d’Amour (2007). I think it’s the only LGBT musical that features songs by both gay and lesbian couples. Yes, they actually break out in song like true musicals, and not just perform them like Bohemian Rhapsody. And it’s truly a gay musical, not just a musical with gay characters. There are excerpts on YouTube.
MISTERJETT
he’s adorable!!!!
frenchjr25
He played an important character at the time – as no comedy before had a regular gay teen character. He even had to “come out” as straight at the time.
radiooutmike
I loved this show, even though it was stupid.