-Our next guest is an Emmy-nominated actor
and comedian as well as the creator and star
of the critically acclaimed series, "Ramy."
The entire third season is streaming now on Hulu.
Please welcome back to the show Ramy Youssef, everyone.
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Welcome back, Ramy. -Dude.
-I am so happy to have you here in person.
-I know. In person's amazing.
-You were, I guess, here maybe three, four years ago
when the first season of your show was out.
-Yeah. -And somehow you've managed to,
in a very hard time to make television,
made two more seasons. Congratulations.
-Thank you. Yeah, it was --
You guys did it, too. We did one of these on Zoom...
-Yep. -...which was also great.
But, yeah, seeing you in person is like --
-It's a lot nicer. -I know. I hugged you,
and I was like, I remembered the time we all had hope.
-Yeah. [ Laughter ]
-There used to be so much hope. -Yeah.
-I've been, like -- You know, I was telling you,
too, back there, I've been thinking about
just how much I can't trust my feelings these last few years.
-How's that? -Like, you know, I don't think
I trust what's going on in my head anymore.
And even looking out right now, and it's like some people
are wearing masks, some aren't, and it scares me.
What do they know that...? [ Laughter ]
-Yeah. -'Cause I'm starting to think,
you know, I'm at that point now where I see someone with a mask,
and, you know... -It's interesting.
I feel like people broke two different ways,
and I'm very much like you. I feel like some people
are like, "I know exactly where the pandemic's at, at all times,
whatever I think is right." -Yes.
-Whereas I'm constantly thinking,
"I might be doing this wrong." -Yeah.
[ Laughter ] Well, I realized
that I can't trust myself
'cause I remember the first mask I saw.
Remember the first one? -Yep.
-Like, early. I remember that guy,
just seeing him at the supermarket, I'm like,
"Oh, look at this guy." [ Laughter ]
It was like, "Okay, buddy. Someone's been on YouTube."
[ Laughter ]
"You're gonna go back to your bunker, like, what's going on."
And then, two weeks later...
[ Laughter ]
I saw a guy without a mask, and I was like,
"Whoa. Look who hates Black people."
[ Laughter ]
"Like, this guy does not care about the country."
Immediately, I was like, "Oh, that happened in two weeks."
-Yeah. -Everything changed.
I don't trust myself anymore. [ Laughter ]
-Yeah. Rarely do you go from
the first part to the second part in just two weeks.
-Two weeks.
-Usually takes years to get there.
-Oh, man, I'm just a new person, immediately.
-One of my favorite things about your show is, it's very funny,
but there's also a really great narrative thrust to the show.
And with that in mind, I don't want to give anything away.
-Yeah. -Because the end of season 2
sort of left Ramy -- And he was just thriving.
Just doing great. And then there's --
I will only say, there's a bit of a time jump.
Is it -- What would you tell people
before they go into season 3?
-You know, I think the show -- the most interesting part
about it, to me, has always been just this idea
of trying to be with someone who wants a spiritual life.
I think it's something that a lot of people can relate to,
and it's not something that we see in a serious way.
You know, it's obviously a comedy, so we're finding
the funny that's in it, but just the serious pursuit.
And I think he's always in this battle between his higher self
and his lower self, but we really kind of go into
this one where he's like, "You know what?
Maybe I just am my lower self,"
and he kind of believes that for a while.
And so we're seeing this crisis of faith.
-There's a very funny scene about Christmas,
and this is based on your own personal history.
But can we show the clip first and then discuss?
-Yeah. -Let's take a look.
-Our traditions have a lot in common.
-Yeah, I've always felt that.
That we share this deep Christmaslessness, you know?
-Huh?
-Like not celebrating Christmas, right?
Like, the whole country -- this whole country's, like,
worshipping Santa, and we're like,
"No, I don't think something -- This doesn't feel right."
You know? -Hmm.
-I remember being in kindergarten,
everyone's talking about Santa.
I look over at this kid, Ari,
and I'm like, "Dude, we know the truth.
We know this is just, like, a capitalist [bleep] lie."
[ Laughter ]
-Christmaslessness, was this something that you
found common cause with other kids in school growing up?
-Oh, this was deep. Me and my Jewish friends,
we were the only ones who knew the truth.
[ Laughter ]
-Did you keep it to yourself? -Well, you try,
but then you say something, and then you get in trouble.
And then they're like, "What are you doing?"
"I'm telling the truth." And it's so wild, like,
this feeling of being a kid
and realizing you're just surrounded by lies.
Like, I remember watching, even TV, I saw a clip as a child
of Bill Clinton, and he's on TV, and he's like,
"Santa's coming to your homes.
I hope he brings you nice gifts."
And I was like, in that moment, I was like,
"I will never trust this government."
[ Laughter ]
Ever. I mean, that's the guy we're supposed to trust?
I'm supposed to believe these people about Guantanamo?
Like, this is -- it's dark, you know?
And you really -- Yeah, you're a child,
and you know about the Christmas industrial complex.
[ Laughter ] It's damaging.
-Is it fun in the writers' room when you realize that you can --
I mean, again, so much of the show, I imagine,
is pulled from personal experiences,
but it must be so great to know that you can write
a Christmaslessness monologue
and get to perform it as an adult.
Just must be the best. -No, it's cathartic in that way.
I mean, and a lot of it, like, I'll find on stage
and then bring it in, and then that's where
it's really fun kind of having a group of people
who've all experienced it.
-There's a great -- obviously, a great element of the show,
are the people who play your parents.
You have parents in real life, as well.
How do they feel about the show? What is their feedback?
-You know, they, um --
You know, they don't -- they don't like the sex scenes,
which is, like -- -Fair.
-Yeah. And it's your parents.
They don't want to see -- I tell them it's a stunt guy.
[ Laughter ]
I tried to tell -- I'm like, even with the sex stuff,
I'm like, "Look, I promise, my next role, no sex,
like, just violence." [ Laughter ]
"Like, I'll just kill people."
And they're like, "Oh, thank God."
[ Laughter ]
-I will say, while it might be disappointing
when your parents say, "We don't like the sex scenes,"
the alternative would be worse, right?
If they were like, "Our favorite part..."
[ Laughter ]
-No, yeah, that'd be, like -- My dad, though,
will give me notes about -- like, he doesn't like that,
and then he'll just talk to me about the lighting
for like an hour. -Really?
-Yeah, he'll be like, "You got to look at the lighting
in a couple of these scenes.
I'd like to see progress next season."
-Wow. [ Laughter ]
Does he have a background in lighting?
-Uh, no. -Okay.
[ Laughter ]
He's just learning by watching?
-There's no lighting in our family.
Like, we're kind of a dimly lit family, actually.
We try to save money on the electric bill.
Most of my life was, "Turn off that light."
-The weird thing is -- it is a beautifully shot show.
And it is funny that your dad
would find a way to criticize that.
I mean -- -Well, he's a father.
He just -- He wants the lighting to get better.
-Yeah, that's all. -And I think that's all it is.
-He's like, "Look, the lighting's fine."
-[ Laughs ] "It's great where it is,
but I want to push you to take it to the next level."
-I don't want you to settle on the current lighting situation.
-Yeah, exactly. -I'm wondering, you know, again,
we're talking about how much, you know,
your life inspires the show.
One decision you made early on is, being an actor named Ramy
who called the show "Ramy" and plays a character named Ramy.
Do you ever regret that?
[ Laughter ]
-Every single day. [ Laughter ]
Like, every -- every single day, I'm like, "There's so many
other names that we could have picked."
And it's funny, because I grew up --
Part of it was, I wanted to have my name,
you know, and not just 'cause it was me,
but because the industry that came before me,
it was anyone who had an Arab name,
they changed their name in order to blend in.
-Right. -If your name was Muhammad,
you'd want to say you were Mike.
You know, you'd try to find something.
And so I was like, "Yeah, I want to have an Arab name."
But now -- yeah, now we're like three seasons in,
we can't change the name.
Now I'm like, "Well, maybe I'll change my name."
Like, I might, in real life, just -- I might just go --
like, maybe I'm just Robert now. -Yeah.
So, the show's still "Ramy," but then you tell people,
you're like, "That's not me." -Yeah, and I made progress.
I made it in Hollywood as an Arab, but now I'm Robert.
[ Laughter ] -Right.
That's the thing you would prove to everybody.
You're like, "I owned it." -It can be done.
-Until I made it, and now I want to be Robert.
-Now I'm Robert. Yeah, yeah. It's been done.
-Well, I hope you stick with Ramy.
I think we all prefer the Ramy,
having a little Ramy in our lives,
both on screen and off.
It's really a fantastic -- We were talking backstage.
I've watched the first couple episodes of season 3.
It's great. It's always been great.
And it's so lovely to have you here in person.
-Thank you, man. Thanks, dude.
Thank you, thank you. -Ramy Youssef, everybody.
The third season of "Ramy" is streaming now on Hulu.
We'll be right back with more "Late Night."