“Well yeah, so I would like to thank my God, Allahu Akbar” “Look, I know you guys haven’t seen my show”
If you haven’t seen Hulu’s “Ramy” at all, Ramy Youssef’s Golden Globe acceptance speech should give you an idea of what to expect. The semi-autobiographical comedy provides a candid look at Arab Muslim American life, punctuated by bits of your daily Egyptian life – to the extent you might feel it’s an Egyptian production – and how these two lives are affected and contrasted by one another. Our main character “Ramy” is a bundle of flaws, and he’s on a journey to understand God, religion, and morality. From the first look at the third season trailer, you might think there is going to be a Family Guy-ish journey to Jerusalem to find God, but it wasn’t anything like that. Like most of the season, it was intense and thought-provoking; we also saw more of Ramy’s family and how they’re still adapting to the American dream even though they immigrated from Egypt decades ago. The 3 seasons’ journey has been nothing but two Primetime Emmy Awards nominations worthy, and it’s fair to say that everyone is waiting for a fourth season.
I spoke with writer, director, and producer, Ramy Youssef, about working on the third season, visiting Egypt, and more.
Read our full conversation below:
Let me start with a fun fact, so recently it was announced that they’re officially going to make an Egyptian version of Shark Tank!
Ramy: I saw that and I was laughing so much. It’s really funny because it’s actually the second time this happens. In season two, we had a scene where we made up a virtual hajj, and then later that year they came up with a virtual hajj, and now the same thing’s happening with Egyptian Shark Tank.
-How was it like meeting Hany Shenouda?
Ramy: Meeting Shenouda was amazing. He is one of the kindest, most thoughtful people I’ve ever met, especially for somebody who’s such an amazing artist. He’s contributed so much to what I would say modern music in general. I think a lot of what he did in Egypt we’re now seeing has effects on the entire world. And I think that for someone who has been so influential and who’s such a great artist, he’s just one of the kindest people when you meet him. It’s not just even that he’s down to earth, it’s beyond that. He’s truly the sweetest guy; meeting with him in his studio was really an honor.
-In episode six you filmed in three countries, Egypt, Spain and America. How was it like to film in Egypt? Did you find it challenging?
Ramy: Filming in Egypt was a great experience. We already did it before in season one. We got a really great crew. It wasn’t a heavy shoot, but it was a really effective one. And we really loved everybody we worked with. I love shooting in Egypt.
-What was it like to shoot in Jerusalem? Did you have any concerns or doubts about this storyline?
Ramy: I think for us, the goal with that episode was almost how do we go there? And somehow, Ramy, the character gets on everybody’s nerves, and both sides are upset with him. And I think we believed that could be a way to make it funny, but also allow us to show what’s happening. I mean, for people in America to see the wall and the way that people are having to deal with life under occupation is something we felt was really important. So even if we had any doubts, it felt like it was something that we could and should do.
-Has anyone from the MENA region pitched you a role in an Arabic Production?
Ramy: There are a few things that I’m interested in trying to get involved in in Egypt. Nothing is official yet, but it’s something that I’m really looking forward to doing.
-I read some tweets calling Ramy “The BoJack Horseman” to Muslims, how much do you agree with that?
Ramy: Well, I don’t know too much about BoJack Horseman. I have probably only seen a few episodes, but I think we’re definitely hard on the character. We see him in a very kind of vulnerable, naked place and so, all his motivations are not very hidden from the audience. And I think part of what we like about doing them with him is, it’s almost like an ego death kind of watching somebody lose their idea of who they think they are and get closer to the idea of who they actually are and then who they could be. Hopefully, we’re going to do a fourth season and I think we’ll see something a little bit different in Ramy’s character that I’m really excited for people to see.
-You had a lot of guests on the show, Mahershala Ali, Mia Khalifa, Bella Hadid… who was the hardest to get on the show?
Ramy: Honestly, no one was, we were really lucky. I mean, everyone was really excited about being on the show and were really into the idea. And that was so great. It was more about making the schedules work for Mahershala and Bella. They’re both very busy people, but they really wanted to do it, so we managed to make it work out.
-When Moon Knight had a few Egyptian songs, everyone freaked out, but we focused more on the songs that didn’t make it to the final cut. Are there any Egyptian songs that you considered but didn’t make it? And generally, how do you pick them? Can you give us a sneak peek of season four’s playlist?
Ramy: There are some songs that we’re saving for the fourth season, so I think there are going to be a few more Egyptian favorites of mine. I don’t want to disclose which ones yet because maybe not all of them will make it, but they’ll be the ones that I think people really love and so I’m excited. We’ve been able to put in a lot of artists that I really love like Abdel-Halim and Hany Shenouda.
-This season wasn’t about Ramy alone, we saw more and more of the family, notably Dina and Maysa, when did you decide to explore the other characters? Talk to me about the process of writing women characters from a male perspective.
Ramy: Yeah, well, we wanted to find the funniest situations for her [Maysa]. I think Hiam Abbass is just very funny and we really love writing those drama situations for her. I think our room has a lot of very smart, funny women; Egyptian women and Muslim women. We have an Egyptian writer and a good collection of minds. So when we’re writing this, we’re talking about all these storylines together and I think this season I was very excited to really make it feel like more of an ensemble show and not just about this character. The show has always focused on the characters, but I think this season we did it even more.
-I think one of the biggest challenges for shows like Ramy is being filled with cultural clichés, how did you overcome that?
Ramy: I think looking at a cliche or a stereotype is okay if you’re able to treat it with more nuance and really examine it in a meaningful way. We’re not afraid of doing anything. I think we just kind of really follow where we honestly think this character could be and what situation would be the hardest to talk about while also still being really funny. And I think that’s what we look for, sensitive tricky topics that are also funny.
-In Egypt, we have this list of “7 Egyptian actors making it in Hollywood”, do you feel this type of connection with first-generation Egyptian-American actors like Rami Malek especially when you work together?
Ramy: Yeah, of course. I mean, there was this moment with Rami Malik at the Golden Globes where we both hugged and were like, wow, it’s crazy that we’re both here. It’s not just that we’re both Egyptian, but we’re both Rami/y as well so that was very exciting. It was also very fun to work with him on Mr. Robot.
-Did you watch Amr Waked’s Ibrahim Al Abyad? What are your top favorite Egyptian movies, if any?
Ramy: Yeah, of course I watched Ibrahim Al Abyad. I grew up seeing Amr on my TV screen in New Jersey. We had this satellite dish that you would put on your house and get all of the channels; this was before it became a lot easier with the internet. And so even when we got Amr to play my dad, I remember my grandfather couldn’t believe it was really him. He’s someone that we’ve known for a while.
Ramy: When I first decided I wanted to be a filmmaker, I think I did what a lot of people did and just watched all of Youssef Chahin’s films. One of my favorite movies of his is “Al Ard” where he talks about class and family; I think it is something that I really connect with very deeply. I think the types of cinematography that he was doing back then, people can still do now, and so it’s really impressive
-You visited Egypt a few times, what are your top favorite things to do here?
Ramy: I travel to Egypt like twice a year, sometimes more and I tend to mainly hang out with my family. I sometimes think there are tourists who know more about Egypt than I do because I mostly hang out with my family in their living rooms and we get food and my aunts cook. And so sometimes I’m in Egypt for three weeks and the only thing I’m doing is seeing family. I love going to Zooba a lot, which we now have in New York too; it’s one of my favorite spots for sure.
-Talk to me about working on Netflix’s Mo, how different was it from working on Ramy?
Ramy: We’ve been friends for a long time; getting to put together the pitch or the idea for the show with him was great. I really wanted to make something about people without US citizenship in America, and so it was really exciting to bring that to life with him. Writing on the show was also great because I love writing for Mo; I also love doing it on the Hulu show, Ramy. And I really enjoyed making something that feels a lot different from Ramy.
