Hiam Abbass, who plays the bold, bright, and lonely Hassan family matriarch, Maysa, on Hulu’s Ramy, spoke to katja_vujic about what it was like to direct and produce this season, what she thought of the show’s Palestine episode, and if she really vapes
It’s a great feeling, and it’s so enjoyable to go back to her. I think she’s funny, she’s spontaneous. The fact that she has no filter when she talks makes me want to discover,I’ve been really lucky to have that part. I don’t want that to end. The day Ramy Youssef tells me that we’re not doing any more seasons, I think it would be a big, sad day in my life.
Ramy’s father, Farouk, is in a split point in his life, where he is unsure about anything, and he’s trying really hard, but he’s not finding the right thing for that right business that he’s looking for. And Maysa cannot take it anymore. She needs things to move. She needs things to change. She knows they’re going through a crisis. And she doesn’t think that her husband is bringing any solution to that.
The first time, I’m not sure she went out to work because she was in need. I think she was in need for self-establishment as a woman, female independence, feeling that she’s useful and that she’s doing something. It wasn’t about the money. And I think that’s why she was careless. She was very careful about what she was doing in this season. I think she knows that she cannot mess around with things, because otherwise, her salary would not be there at the end of the month.
That was added by Ramy. When you direct for a TV show, you have your cut that you give to the producers. Then Ramy comes in and puts his hand in there. But one of the biggest compliments that he gave me, when finally he saw the cut, was “I don’t think there’s a lot that I want to change in there.” He would consider things in a very collaborative way. But to go back to that line: Yes, I think it was very clever. I think the episode really needs it.
I’m sure it helps having acting and directing experience, so you can understand what they’re experiencing. I thought it was such an oddly sweet moment when Maysa goes to the smoke shop for cigarettes and is given a Juul. Was that your first time vaping? A lot of the show is about the interaction of Arab cultures with American culture and the contradictions that living in both can create. As someone who’s had such an international life and career, who has lived in multiple cultures for so long, I was wondering about your experience with that.
This season, Ramy goes to occupied Palestine. You were born in Palestine, and your character, Maysa, is Palestinian. Maysa has a really strong reaction to the trip. What was your reaction to that episode?
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