Ramy Youssef on creating
and running Hulu’s Ramy
By Iain Blair

Comedian and writer Ramy Youssef created, produced and stars in the Hulu show Ramy. Part comedy, part drama, the show immediately endeared itself to audiences and critics for its non-stereotypical take on the American Muslim community, as well as its humorous take on the millennial experience.

Ramy follows its titular character, Ramy Hassan, a first-generation Muslim-American who is on a spiritual journey in his politically divided New Jersey neighborhood. The series, produced by A24, won an SXSW Audience Award and a 2020 Golden Globe for Youssef. Ramy Season 2 premiered on May 29.

I recently spoke with showrunner Youssef, whose credits include roles on See Dad Run and Mr. Robot, as well as his HBO one-hour comedy special Ramy Youssef: Feelings, about making the show and his love of editing and post.

You play a “semi-autobiographical” version of yourself as a millennial Muslim living at home in New Jersey. How much of Ramy is in TV Ramy?
(Laughs) A fair amount, but I was very lucky growing up to have the resources around me to help with the questions I had and to find answers. I was very lucky to find a creative outlet to help me express myself. But the Ramy I play is different from me, since he hasn’t found his outlet yet. And he has a family that doesn’t talk about things as much as my real family does. So he’s a bit more stuck and doesn’t have the answers yet. He’s still going in circles.

Do you like being a showrunner?
I do, but it wasn’t even a case of liking or disliking it — it had to happen with this show because it’s so close to me. I don’t think anyone else would feel comfortable having to make certain choices for the show. It’s a really interesting question because I began shooting things in high school, before I was ever on camera.

We had a really great TV program back then — we put on the morning news for the school, and I learned so much about production. I even got certified as an Apple Final Cut editor while I was still at high school, and all that continued through college. So now, 10 years later, I can walk onto a set and all the small things I learned back then are really useful. It’s just scaled up from what I used to do with no budget at all. I do enjoy the job, though it’s very stressful.

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