Golden Globes: Ramy Youssef Wins Best Actor in a Comedy Series
The 'Ramy' star and creator won his first Globe on Sunday night.
Ramy Youssef on Sunday took home the first award of the night at the Golden Globes — best actor in a comedy or musical television series — for his role on the Hulu series Ramy.
It was the creator and star's first Golden Globe nomination.
"Look, I know you guys haven't seen my show," Youssef joked at the podium.
Ramy , which premiered on the streaming service last spring, follows a Muslim-American millennial living with his family in New Jersey where his Egyptian immigrant parents grew up.
"It’s a really specific story about one Egyptian family in North Jersey," Youssef told reporters backstage. "Sometimes, in this specific industry, networks feel like they need to sell something like toothpaste. So getting something like this shows you can really relate to people with something that feels really granular. Symbolically, I hope this allows people to make more stories."
Youssef beat out Barry's Bill Hader, Living With Yourself's Paul Rudd, The Politician's Ben Platt and The Kominsky Method's Michael Douglas in the category.
"My mom, also, by the way, was rooting for Michael Douglas," the actor confessed to the audience.
Speaking to the extent to which the show depicts his own experiences, Youssef said he took the series as an opportunity take feelings he struggled with throughout his life "a little further than I struggled with them."
"There are tendencies to make a show of people you don’t know, to make them look good," Youssef explained. "I wanted to lead with our problems and things people connect on a human level with."
Youssef's win also marks Hulu's first Golden Globe for a comedy actor in a television series.
“Ramy Youssef is an undeniable talent not only as an actor but as a creator, comedian and producer. His unique voice and storytelling brought a fresh new perspective to the screen that resonated deeply with millions of our Hulu viewers,” Hulu's head of content Craig Erwich said Sunday in a statement. “We’re proud to be a home for breakthrough storytellers like Ramy who bring untold stories to life, and can’t wait for fans to see season two of this incredible show.” – The Hollywood Reporter
Spotlighting Youssef’s success, Chancellar Agard wrote: … Ramy Youssef, the star and creator of Ramy, won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy Sunday night. This was the 28-year-old comedian's first nomination and win ever.
‘I would like to thank my God: Allahu Akbar. Thank you, God. This is thanks to God and Hulu,’ Youssef said when he took the stage to accept the award….We made a very specific show about an Arab Muslim family living in New Jersey, and this means a lot to be recognized on this level."
The freshman Hulu comedy, which was renewed for a second season, starred Youssef as a fictionalized version of himself who was struggling to find love in the big city while trying to hold onto his Muslim culture.
"I knew I wanted to make something about Arab Muslims," Youssef told EW about developing the show. "I try to be as specific as possible when saying 'Arab Muslims' because there are a lot of different Muslims. I've never really seen stories about us in America, at least where you had versions of our characters that weren't framed by violence."
Commented Aymann Ismail : Ramy Youssef Won a Golden Globe, Took the Stage, and Said “Allahu Akbar”
That’s big.
Takbir! Ramy Youssef just won the first Golden Globe of the night, for best actor in a comedy series for Ramy, and then got on stage and said this: “I would like to thank my God. Allahu Akbar. Thank you, God.”
That’s major. I’ll admit I’ve got a dumb smile on my face at least partly because both Youssef and I are Egyptian Americans from New Jersey, and it felt like our whole block was up there with him. For the longest time, the only channel that had images of folks who looked like us was the news. But now? We’re walking past Bill Hader and Paul Rudd to collect our Golden Globes.
But this is special for another reason. Wearing his fancy maroon suit and ivory white kicks, Youssef strutted up the stage, hugged Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, and then said what I’d already been chanting for him at home: “ Allahu Akbar. Thank you, God.” He said it gently and redundantly—praising God in first English, then Arabic, so as not to cause alarm at the Beverly Hilton Ballroom—but that made a world of difference for us Muslim fans watching from home.
The phrase “ Allahu Akbar” is a normal one for Muslims all over the world. We say it when we do our daily prayers, when Mohamed Salah scores a goal, and at weddings and funerals. It’s as common as “Thank God” and as complex as “Aloha.” But for me, Youssef sneaking in that phrase is political, easy to read as a deliberate protest against the ways non-Muslims have been programmed to believe “Allahu Akbar” is a threatening war cry. Hearing him say it, in his fancy suit alongside beaming actresses like Witherspoon and Aniston, was his way of thrusting his uncompromised identity into the Hollywood elite diaspora.
We hear a lot of talk about assimilating. The right demands that we Muslims “fit in” and weave ourselves into the fabric of America. I’ve always thought of that as a threat—as if the only way to assimilate is to strip myself of what made me different. Ramy is a show about negotiating Youssef’s specific slice of American Muslim identity, and in his brief and elegant speech, he showed that real assimilation happens when ideas that on the surface seem to clash begin to appear together, and become normal. I usually avoid praising God in Arabic when I’m in places too public. If it’s a regular sight at the Golden Globes, maybe that could change. That’s what assimilation truly looks like for Muslims in America.
Youssef isn’t the first Muslim or even the first Ramy to win a Golden Globe, but this award is unique, not least for how he celebrated. He’s currently working on Season 2 of Ramy for Hulu, with help from another Muslim who won a Golden Globe, Mahershala Ali. I believe they’re working on something much bigger than TV.
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