Arab American Ramy Youssef Wins Best Actor Golden Globe Award

posted on: Jan 8, 2020

On Sunday, Egyptian American comedian and actor, Ramy Youssef, won the Golden Globe best actor in a musical or comedy series award for his work on the Hulu series “Ramy,” which he created, wrote, produced and directed.

Accepting the award beside Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, Youssef said, “I would like to thank my God. Allahu akbar. Thank you, God.” Egyptians love Michael Douglas, I don’t know if you know this, my mother was rooting for Douglas.” he went on to say, “We made a very special show about an Arab Muslim family living in New Jersey and this means a lot, to be recognized on this level.”

Ironically, on his return home at the airport, a TSA agent flagged Ramy Youssef’s luggage after his Golden Globe trophy raised alarms. Youssef, recorded the experience on Instagram, as the boxed trophy went through a scanner under the supervision of a TSA agent. “Is that part of the test or what?” Youssef asked the agent before doing the security check. “You gotta make sure that it passed.” At the end of the video, Youssef commented, “The ‘random’ checks you have to deal with when you have a Muslim name.”

Youssef’s series follows a 20-year-old man as he figures out his life in New Jersey amidst complicated living situations, balancing family and friends, and the desire to accomplish greatness.

Youssef’s series depicts the life of an Arab/Muslim growing up in America. Though he takes on a humorous attitude, Youssef mainly seeks to highlight the struggles faced by most American-based Muslim youth, and what they do to get through the day.

Youssef was born in Queens to Egyptian parents. Raised in Rutherford, New Jersey, Youssef attended Rutherford High School. He performed sketch comedy while studying political science and economics in college. He left Rutgers when he was 19 and enrolled in the Professional Actor Training Program at the prestigious William Esper Studio in New York. Upon completing the Two-Year Program under the tutelage of Barbara Marchant, Youssef landed his first major role in a TV series and moved to Los Angeles.

Youssef made his acting debut on the Nick at Nite sitcom See Dad Run in which he had the main role. During the run of the show, Youssef shadowed the writers’ room, an experience Youssef would bring to his own show in 2019.

In 2017, Youssef appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert where he performed his stand-up routine.

His television series, Ramy, debuted on Hulu on April 19, 2019, with ten episodes. The show, in which Youssef plays the title character, tells the story of a millennial Muslim who is a second-generation American born to immigrant parents in the United States.

He’s currently working on Season Two of Ramy for Hulu, with help from another Muslim who won a Golden Globe, Mahershala Ali.

Compiled by Arab America

Related Content: New Benchmark TV Series “Ramy” on Hulu

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