Egyptian Actors Who Made It In Hollywood

Earlier this year, the movie Poor Things made its debut in theaters. The film, starring Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo, features Ramy Youssef, an Egyptian actor who rose to fame with his show, Ramy. 

In the previous years, many Egyptian actors have broken through the barrier and made it in Hollywood. These are some of the leading Egyptian actors on the big screen: 

Born in Cairo and raised in London, Amir El-Masry is an Egyptian actor who rose to fame in the movie Ramadan Mabrouk Abul-Alamein Hamouda, alongside Mohamed Henedi. Since the films release in 2008, El-Masry began starring in international productions, most notably portraying Mohamed Al-Fayed, a UK-based businessman in The Crown. Recently, he has acted in In Camera, and A Haunting in Venice next to Tina Fey and Jamie Dornan, both released in 2023. 

Rami Malek, famously known for his role as Mr. Robot and Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, is an Egyptian Actor, though he was born and raised in America. While Malek has not premiered on the Egyptian scree, he has been outspoken about his Egyptian background, and shared that he speaks Arabic with his family. Most recently, Malek has starred in Oppenheimer, but began acting on the big screen in 2006 in the first movie of Night at the Museum as the fictional Pharaoh Ahkmenrah. 

Ramy Youssef, born in California to Egyptian parents, made his appearance on the big screen with his namesake show in 2019, with the third season premiering in 2022. The show, streaming on Hulu, was positively received by both Americans and Egyptians as it resonated with the current generation and their conflicts of being between cultures. The show had three nominations in the Emmys, and won a Golden Globe award. In September 2023, the new movie Poor Things was released, featuring Youssef. This is the first time Youssef has acted in a major production film. 

May Calamawy was also a leading actress in the Ramy series, playing Ramy’s sister, Dena Hassan. Her character examined and criticized the double standards between sons and daughters that is often seen in Egyptian households. The Palestinian-Egyptian actress was also a series regular on the Disney show Moon Knight, opposite Oscar Isaac. Her character, Layla El-Faouly, was an archeologist, and Marc Spector’s wife, one of Isaac’s character.

Ramy allowed many Egyptian and Arab actors the opportunity to make their first appearance in Hollywood. Rosaline Elbay, a guest actress on the show, played Amani, Ramy’s cousin with whom she has a romantic interaction with. Elbay has also been on the MBC Masr show Qabeel, as Sara, since 2017.

May Elghety, born to parents Mohamed Elghety and Mona Barouma, both writers and TV presenters, began acting at a very young age, and premiered in productions at five years old in Al Shabaka Al Mashoura, in 2003. Since 2017, Elghety has starred in the show, La Totfe' Al Shams and is due to act in her first international picture, the British film Due-Date, a romantic comedy.