“I would like to thank my God. Allahu akbar.”
Last night, award season kicked off with 77th annual Golden Globe awards. The night was full of surprises, the biggest being Egyptian-American actor Ramy Youssef, who took home the Best Actor in a Comedy Series award – his first Golden Globe win.
In a surprise turn of events, Ramy won out against though competition, beating out the likes of Michael Douglas, Bill Hader, Ben Platt and Paul Rudd. He took home the trophy for his self-titled, semi-autobiographical Hulu comedy Ramy, which he also created, writes, produces and directs.
As if this wasn’t a big moment in itself, but when Ramy took to the stage, he decided to kick off his speech by thanking Allah. “Allahu Akbar. I want to thank my God,” he started, “Look, I know you guys haven’t seen my show. Everyone’s like, ‘Is this an editor?’ We made a very specific show about an Arab Muslim family living in New Jersey, and this means a lot to be recognised on this level.”
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Ramy is a first of its kind series, which follows a first-generation American Muslim who is on a spiritual journey in his politically divided New Jersey neighbourhood. It explores the challenges of what it is like being caught between an Egyptian community that thinks life is a moral test, and a Millennial generation that thinks life has no consequences.
The first season of the Hulu show was released to much appraisal and acclaim and has been since renewed for a second season. Other than Ramy, the series stars Palestinian comedian Mohammed Amer and Egyptian actors: Amr Waked, Shadi Alfons and Rosaline Elbay. Moreover, the second season of the show will see Muslim and Golden Globe winning actor, Mahershala Ali join the cast.
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Other than his role in show, Ramy starred along side another Egyptian, Rami Malek as a recurring actor on Mr Robot. Moreover, since the success of Ramy, the comedian signed an overall television production deal with A24. He also currently has two shows in development, one for Apple TV+ and one for Netflix – so will definitely be seeing more of him.
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