Ramy Youssef says that becoming a comic strip was just “inevitable at some point”. Its new animated series Amazon Prime is # 1 HAPPY Family USA.
Chris Pizzello / AP
hide
tilting legend
Chris Pizzello / AP
Actor Ramy Youssef was in fifth year and lived in New Jersey when the twin towers fell during the September 11 attacks. He remembers feeling sad following the tragedy – and also very aware of the Egyptian ethnicity of his family and their Muslim faith in the middle of an atmosphere of Islamophobia.
“It’s incredibly confusing. It’s incredibly disorienting,” said Youssef. “And I think that in my family, we were always proud of who we were and where we come from, and at the same time, you don’t want to rock the boat.”
Youssef explores the subject in his new animated Amazon Prime series, # 1 HAPPY Family USA. Located just before and after September 11, the show focuses on the Husseins, an Egyptian American family living in New Jersey. Parents and grandparents are immigrants; And children were born in the United States
Each family member must navigate rampant Islamophobia after terrorist attacks. Rumi, expressed by Youssef, is in fifth year and wears a hat to hide her curly hair. His father comes out on the lawn and sings a song on the way they are “1 Happy Family USA”.
“The part on which I always tend to face is, well, what is it being done in the middle of all this pressure?” Said Youssef.
To highlight the pressure to assimilate, the series uses a different animation style when the family is inside compared to the outside of the house. When an FBI agent settles on the other side of the street, the situation becomes even more stressful for Rumi, because the concerns about security mix with the typical concerns of the college.
“It’s really” OK, is Courtney, the popular girl, talk about me behind my back, and are phones tapped? “” Youssef says. “And generally, people only have to face the Courtney part, and now this kid has them both, and that’s where the series lives.”
Youssef made his debut as a standing comic book before creating and playing in the semi-autobiographical series of Comédie-Drama Ramy On Hulu. This show focused on an American 20 -year -old Egyptian Muslim trying to understand how his life adapts to his commitment to Islam.
Rumi (at the center) confronts Islamophobia, in addition to the typical concerns of the college, in # 1 HAPPY Family USA.
Prime
hide
tilting legend
Prime
Strengths of the interview
In pivotal to comedy after studying political science in college
In college and high school, I was fascinated by the cameras and I always did things. And then at the back of my head, I said: “This is what I like to do the most, but there is no way I can live by doing this.” And I didn’t see a way for it to have a career because I didn’t know anyone who had ever done that. So I thought I had to go to school and become a lawyer, because it was sort of the only thing I could imagine doing. Even if I had no real link with the law, I just said: “Well, I know how to speak and it seems that these guys speak and then they are able to feed their families by speaking.” …
Then, this comedy thing happens and you are going, “Oh, well, you could speak here too.” And it is much more in line with what I like in art and cinema. He became inevitable at some point.
Adjusted the prayer in five times a day
In terms of monotage in certain places, this is where I really think that an artistic lifestyle is so interesting. So my father worked to manage hotels, always on his feet, always with people. “Hey, where should I pray? Like the brushed closet?” … And then when you are an artist, it’s as if everyone supposes that you will be 20 minutes late. … I am surrounded by spiritual people, whether they are part of a kind of practice or not. Because Hollywood is essentially, “hey, I have this thing of 130 pages. And I know that you do not see it yet, but I see it. I believe in the invisible of these words on this page. Come with me and all believe in it and do it.” It is a spiritual place. Everyone draws on the invisible.
On its invited appearance in the Comedy series The studio
What they get so well is why (Hollywood Film and Television is) called “The Business”, and why it is called “Industry” because it feels almost industrial. It’s like, that’s where you’re going to introduce yourself, and that’s what you are going to do. And these are the people you need to talk to. … You must be incredibly sensitive to exploit yourself to do something artistic that will resonate with people.
Immediately, when you finished it with this really sensitive process, it is almost as if you had to harden everything on yourself that made you sure, and then support the barrage of criticism that will come to the project.
On accommodation Snl During Ramadan
I did all this week quickly. In a way, SnlThe hours are a little suitable for Ramadan. It is as if they could all do Ramadan all the time because they leave the office at 3:00 am, then they sleep until, like noon or other. They work very hard. … But it was certainly a tension because you cannot have this coffee to start the day. And I felt like I was probably a calmer week because I was fasting, because things were going to go down and I would say: “It’s probably just Ramadan’s brain and it’s not really a big problem.” And so I was able to rely on this, but I’m sure if I had just eaten, I would have said: “It’s crazy. It’s so crazy.” But I had so much fun.
Lauren Krenzel and Thea Chaloner produced and published this interview for Broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth November adapted it for the web.
Entertainment
