Ramy Youssef, welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Dude, it's-it's too much distance.
I feel like we should have been closer, but it's...
-What are we going to do? -We... I-I... actu...
I think you're actually lucky that we're not closer
because I'm such a big fan of the show
that I would have been one of those nauseating fans
who would have been asking you too many questions.
I would have been all over you.
'Cause, like, I remember when Ramy first came out.
First came out.
A few people were talking about it here,
but I just stumbled across the show, and I was like...
I was running around preaching it to people.
"You got to watch Ramy, you got to watch Ramy.
You got to watch Ramy."
And now, I mean, it's widely accepted--
yeah, Ramy is much... must-watch viewing.
What has that journey been like for you, from going...
you know, creating a show
about a Muslim millennial in New Jersey,
and the Muslim world as a comedy, you know,
to now being a show that people just go like,
"Yeah, yeah, this is normal."?
Because, let's be honest. It wasn't normal,
like, a few years ago when you decided to do this.
No, and it still really shocks me.
Like, there are definitely moments
where people are talking about the show a lot,
it's getting a lot of recognition,
people are excited about it, and I'm like,
"Guys, this is a show about, like, an Arab Muslim dude
that watches too much porn."
Like, I can't believe that this many people are looking at it.
The thing that's probably most overwhelming is
-the international love. -Yeah. Yeah.
Because I think, like, here, it's, like, awesome.
You know, whatever. We got publicists and all this.
But for me, when my aunt calls me and she's like,
"Egypt's watching the show."
-Right. -And I'm like, "Have you seen it?"
And she's like, "Not yet." I'm like, "Thank God."
Uh, but she's like... but she's like,
"I hear the kids are watching it."
I'm like, "Good. Just let them watch it."
Um, that's really special.
I think what I found special about the show--
and this is probably what connects to so many people is,
it's not just the story
of an Arab Muslim kid growing up in New Jersey.
It's also the story of a community
that for so long has been seen through one lens.
Man, you take us into a world where we see human beings.
We see the complexities of Islam.
You know, we see the complexities
of different generations and how they relate to the religion,
and then the cultures that come.
Like, that's not an easy thing to do.
Was there ever a part of you that was afraid
to either tell the story incorrectly
to an outside audience or piss off the inside audience?
Yeah, I mean, that's kind of the tightrope walk
that we're constantly walking with this show.
Because we-we haven't really had any chance
at seeing ourselves on screen, um, in a story
that doesn't involve explosives or national security.
To your question about was I nervous,
well, I'm really nervous, because I know
-that Muslims are such a vast group of people. -Right.
There are many communities. Like, people even say like,
"What does the Muslim community think about your show?"
-Right. -And I'm like, "It's not... it's not not a pop band."
Like, there are a lot of different Muslim communities.
Like, it's not just this one... this one thing.
And so, um, we, you know,
kind of made the choice pretty early on that, like,
we're not gonna try and check all the boxes.
You know, this isn't a census.
This isn't a totality
of something that can't be encompassed, really.
This is just the story, um, of this family.
And we're really going to kind of humanize them
by watching them deal with their problems
in the way that everyone does.
What makes the show successful for me is...
is that it follows the golden rule of telling a story,
and that is, showing the human beings
who exist within the story.
What I loved was how, even in your story,
you know, the Ramy that you play,
when he went to Egypt, he himself realized
that he had stereotypes and connotations of his own family
in Egypt in a way that he didn't even realize.
To take it to Egypt and then have, like, an Egyptian family
who are fans of Donald Trump, and all of America is going,
"Donald Trump's the worst president,"
and here you have Arabs somewhere in the world saying,
"This guy's the best guy,"
even though he wants to ban all Muslims,
why was that so important for you to do?
I remember being in the back of a... of a cab in Cairo in 2015,
and then this guy just being like, "He's a strong man."
And I was like, whoa. All right, I think
we're just used to dictators,
and he just kind of matches the vibe,
but-but he's not what we need.
We knows he's not.
And I think most of us feel that on a certain...
you know, with a certain clarity.
And I think something that I really wanted to do
in making a story about a family we hadn't seen before was,
I wanted to be clear that I'm not trying
to make something that's some sort of, like, PR hit
-to make us look good and make it seem like... -Right.
"Hey, we deserve to be in this country. Give us a shot.
Like, look how cute we are on Ramy on Hulu."
That's not... that's not a real portrayal.
That's, um... that's like propaganda
-in and of itself. -Mm-hmm.
You know, for me, it's, how do I make something
that is challenging my character,
that is putting him in situations
where he's seeing his own biases, he's seeing his flaws?
And that really gets highlighted when he goes to Cairo.
Because I think the show is more about someone trying
to fill the gap between who they want to be
and who they actually are than it is a show about Muslims.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention some
of the breakout stars of your shows, uh, of the show,
and, um, one of those characters has to be Steve.
You know, we meet your best friend in the show
who's in a wheelchair, and already, you know,
from TV and movies, we've watched,
we think we have an idea of who this person should be.
But he's, like, a full-fledged character
in that, like, there's times when he's an asshole,
there's times when we like him, times when we don't like him,
times when we feel story for him,
times when we forget that he has a disability.
Tell me a little bit about how he came to be in the show
and why you felt it was so important
for him to get his own show.
Well, in terms of him getting his own show,
that was just straight-up him bullying me into it.
He was like, "You have the power to produce something now,
and this is gonna be the first thing you do."
And so, that-that... There's not really...
There's no option there for me.
Um, but you know, I've known Steve
-since we were in third grade. -Wow.
You know, we grew up five minutes from each other.
Um, we went to school together.
We actually learned how to make things together in high school.
Um, and I think what was really exciting for us in the show is,
so many times in sitcoms, you see an ethnic best friend,
and in this show, we're predominantly with an Arab cast
that's speaking Arabic, uh, and we're like, "All right,
I guess we're gonna have to have the white best friend."
But it was really funny to kind of pitch him
as the white best friend, and he also has muscular dystrophy,
but really what he is, is he's the white best friend.
And also, in a show where the lead character believes in God,
it's really interesting to have someone who doesn't.
And his reasoning is very rooted in something where he's like,
-"Well, why would I believe that if this is how I am?" -Right.
And then, in making something for him,
what's really cool is, again, flipping this idea where,
okay, now we have in my show, I think he's disserviced.
I love my show, and I'm also like,
-"We don't do enough for him." -Right.
"He's just the disabled best friend."
I want to make a show where, what would it look like
where able-bodied people are the side characters?
And now we get to flip this again,
and we get to see a totally, wholly new perspective.
And so, we're putting together, we're developing this show
with Apple, and so, yeah, it's a world
that we're really excited to-to crack open.
Well, I'll say, I-I've thoroughly enjoyed
your journey, man.
From being a comedian that some people spoke about,
like in word of mouth, to being a Golden Globe winner
and now, uh, stepping into it once again.
Three-time, Emmy nominee-- best director,
best, uh, acting and then, obviously,
with Mahershala Ali's, makes it three for Ramy.
Uh, congratulations on everything
and, uh, thank you so much for joining us on the show.
Thanks, man. So-so good to see you.