Ramy Youssef isn't afraid to go there

How race and identity are shaping politics, policy and power.

Sep 30, 2022 View in browser   By Joseph Gedeon With help from Brakkton Booker, Rishika Dugyala, Jesse Naranjo, Jesús Rodríguez and Teresa Wiltz POLITICO illustration/Photo by Getty Images for Netflix What up, Recast family! More than 2 million people remain without power after Hurricane Ian walloped Florida. The storm, now weaker, is set to make landfall again in South Carolina. And Trevor Noah announces his departure from "The Daily Show." We're kicking off the weekend with a look at a TV series with a decidedly political bent.   It's been years since the show last aired an episode, but now Hulu's award-winning "Ramy"— created by, written by and starring comic Ramy Youssef — is back for Season Three, which premiered at midnight. Politics has remained an understated theme in the dark comedy. It's centered around the life and times of Ramy Hassan and those closest to him as they navigate through relationships and society as Muslims and Arab Americans, grappling with everything from abortion to legal justice for undocumented people to the American dream. And this season, the show is not afraid to go there. Literally. The cast and crew traveled to Israel and the occupied West Bank to film one of its opening episodes. There, characters encounter grueling checkpoints, a hostile abduction by the Israel Defense Forces, detainment and deportation. But it was moments off camera which made a lasting impact on crewmates, who were filming in Jerusalem when Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed in May. Youssef and others from the show even attended her funeral. That experience solidified his commitment to humanizing and shining a light on communities under siege — whether in the United States or abroad. "It's kind of that thing where just living everyday life becomes inherently political," Youssef, who is Egyptian American, told The Recast. Ramy Youssef poses with the award for best performance by an actor in a television series, musical or comedy at the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. | Chris Pizzello/AP Photo We sat down with the 2020 Golden Globe best actor winner over Zoom as he helped us understand the show's latest season, while wading into Middle Eastern affairs, why we should elect more Arab Americans and finding the balance between comedy and politics. ◆◆◆ This interview has been edited for length and clarity. THE RECAST: It's been years since the last season came out and I've noticed a change in tone in the show. YOUSSEF: We've always kind of viewed [the show] as different chapters of this family's life. And I think that influences tone, because there's certain chapters that feel more optimistic and the chapters that feel more challenging. We were excited about exploring this idea of a crisis of faith for the character of Ramy but also for the family. And that crisis of faith isn't just spiritual, it's also around the idea of, "Is there still an American dream" or "Did we get what we wanted?" These people who uprooted their whole lives, came to America for a very specific idea and they're kind of getting the results after being here for 35 years, but still can't afford the house that we had been living in. How did that happen?   Every week, we sit down with diverse and influential characters who are shaking up politics. Who should we profile next? Let us know. Email us at therecast@politico.com.   THE RECAST: You went to Israel and the West Bank for this season. What was that like and what is the significance of it? Ramy (Ramy Youssef) and Yuval (Julian Sergi) are pictured in a still from the second episode of the new season of "Ramy." | Jon Pack/Hulu YOUSSEF: So we shot in Jerusalem. And first off, I think it was an incredibly spiritual experience. There's all these historical sites for Muslims, for Jews, for Christians. So I think there is a really special energy that's there. And while we were there, the journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed. And a lot of people in our crew had worked with her. So I keep kind of thinking of the word spiritual, because we went to her funeral and we're just standing with the people there. There were Jewish Americans who were with us and there were Muslims, and we're in a church because she was Christian. It's just something that I think people don't understand: the level of diversity that exists there. And I think we kind of went there, knowing that there's all this tension we hear a lot about Israelis and Palestinians and our goal was like, "How do we put the Ramy character there, and somehow, he's the biggest asshole?" THE RECAST: You were at the funeral? What was that like? Mourners carry the casket of slain Al Jazeera veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during her funeral in Jerusalem's Old City, Friday, May 13, 2022. | Mahmoud Illean/AP Photo YOUSSEF: It was really just a spiritual experience, praying for a lost life alongside Muslims, Christians, Jews, and it was very emotional. It just furthered my own conviction around exploring this topic and again, I don't think that we explore it in a way that has any answers and we're not really looking to make a situation like this more tense. It just continues in our hope to make it feel more human and to figure out a way even within that to find these weird laughs in hopes that that could be some sort of contribution to the ongoing discussion. THE RECAST: While you have some politics in every season, this is meant to be a comedy show, so how do you find a balance? YOUSSEF: Just living everyday life becomes inherently political, right? In our first season, we're trying to just show this kid who's trying to figure out normal kid stuff. What it means to navigate your friend group, and to become sexual at that age and all of a sudden it becomes political because he's the Arab Muslim kid in his town. And so the same thing happens when we go to Jerusalem. This character is just wanting to do business and he wants to hook up with somebody, and that becomes political. So it's just the initial desire that the characters are navigating that comes first, and then it's just by who they are and where they are that it becomes political. POLITICO's Joseph Gedeon interviews comedian Ramy Youssef, writer, director and star of the show "Ramy." | POLITICO screenshot THE RECAST: The show first came out during the Trump presidency. Now [President Joe] Biden's in office and things have changed again. So did these political moments affect your writing? YOUSSEF: No, whoever's president hasn't really felt so relevant. I think the one thing we're seeing that continues to be really contentious is what has happened with the Supreme Court in terms of women's basic rights. We're still in, I would say, just as tense of times. Initially, there was probably something in terms of how blatant [the Trump] presidency was in terms of saying certain things about Arabs and Muslims. And I think that clarified the need for a lot of conversations that we're having now on the show. THE RECAST: I know you canvassed for DSA [Democratic Socialists of America] a while back. Are you still involved in politics? Are there any political leaders you're impressed with or any policies you advocate for? Ramy Youssef is seen in a 2019 scene from "Ramy." | Barbara Nitke/Hulu via AP YOUSSEF: I live in New York now and for me I just try to be involved in local elections as much as possible. We get to have more awareness around the systems [when we vote locally], because if we're only tuning in every four years we're not really paying attention to how we got those results. There are a lot of people who are much more qualified to talk about anything political, and I'm figuring out how to support them. I didn't finish college. THE RECAST: Do you think Arab Americans are growing in political power? YOUSSEF: I think we're starting to and I hope that we continue to have a voice when it gets to the level of the Senate and the House and places where there is a voice for what is happening in terms of foreign policy. Because I do think when there isn't that kind of representation, a lot of those decisions are just being made in a vacuum and I do think that there is a baseline lack of humanization for people who don't live in America or Europe. THE RECAST: In the show, your character has certain rights as an Egyptian American in Egypt, even compared to an Egyptian abroad. YOUSSEF: It's so clear how "American" Ramy is, and I think that's also part of the dark comedy of it, where in America he feels like an outsider at times, but then once he goes to the Middle East, he's so clearly American. And he's so benefited from the fact that he's an American. THE RECAST: What do you want people to take away from this season? YOUSSEF: I would never want anyone to feel like as a show, we are trying to attack anyone or criticize anyone. The world's very tense right now. I only want this to be a contribution to humanizing conversations. I didn't want to be adding to the tension. I only want to be playing in the gray areas of it. [I hope the show] creates a little bit more human faces around things that feel, again, very dehumanized. Anytime we draw state lines, borders, there are human costs. And most countries are only able to kind of justify that existence with militaristic force. I do think that there's an important understanding of that, as we talk about these things where nothing is happening in a vacuum. We all are kind of paying that cost. ◆◆◆ It's been a challenging week for many of us, particularly those recovering from or bracing for Hurricane Ian's onslaught. Our thoughts are with you. Here are some quick pop news items and some pick-me-ups heading into the weekend.  "Jackie, are you here?" — Earlier this week at a White House event on hunger, President Joe Biden asked the whereabouts of the late Indiana congresswoman who died in a car accident last month. WATCH: Karine Jean-Pierre explains " she was top of mind" for the president. Jostling for power — Election Day is quickly approaching. No, not the midterms, but the contest slated for after Thanksgiving. POLITICO's Sarah Ferris and Nicholas Wu break down the battle brewing on Capitol Hill over House No. 6. PEEP THIS from our Snapchat Team: Lizzo plays James Madison's 200-year-old flute Late night exit — Say it ain't so. Trevor Noah, the host of "The Daily Show," says his time in the host chair is up. Pour one out for Coolio — Artis Leon Ivey Jr., better known to fans around the globe as the hip hop artist Coolio, died on Wednesday . He was 59. Best known for trademark braided hairdo, Coolio was thrust into superstardom when his megahit "Gangsta's Paradise" was featured on the soundtrack for the 1995 film "Dangerous Minds." He's rarely mentioned as one of the all-time greats of West Coast hip hop, but Coolio did have some bangers peppered with lyrics of hope that transcend race and socioeconomic status, like these bars from another hit "Fantastic Voyage." I'm tryin' to find a place where I can live my life and Maybe eat some steak with my beans and rice A place where my kids can play outside Without livin' in fear of a drive-by Coolio performs at Riot Fest, Sept. 18, 2022, in Chicago. | Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP RIP to a real one. Nicki Minaj teams up with dancehall king Skeng for the "Likkle Miss Remix." (Note: Some of those twerking booties are definitely NSFW.) Sandra Cisneros reads poetry for the New Yorker, specifically, "Shelter," by José Antonio Rodríguez, and her own poem "Tea Dance, Provincetown, 1982." The late, great Anne Rice's "Interview with a Vampire" is back, this time as an AMC TV series. And this time around, one of the vampires, Louis, played by British actor Jacob Anderson, is Black. Billy Eichner 's new movie, "Bros," which he wrote and stars in, is the first gay-rom-com produced by a major studio. Bowen Yang of "SNL" makes an appearance. "ARGENTINA, 1985" is a new movie inspired by the true story of the prosecution of Argentina's brutally bloody military dictatorship. Puerto Rican artist Álvaro Díaz's new single, "Lentito" is very much a vibe. Let the weekend begin. TikTok of the Day: Serving up Bad Bunny outside Grand Central.   Follow us on Twitter Brakkton Booker @brakktonbooker Rishika Dugyala @rishikadugyala Teresa Wiltz @teresawiltz Jesús Rodríguez @jesusrodriguezb Jesse Naranjo @jesselnaranjo   Follow us

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