Quotes from Ramy Youssef

Meeting at our fault lines is much more interesting to me than meeting at shared values. I'm not trying to sell you something. If anything, I'm trying to show you where we are. There is nothing to hide.

I've never had a particularly good experience in the Hollywood Hills. I love Hollywood, but there's something about the Hills where I'm just like, 'I'm going to just stay at ground level.'

My dad is an amazing human being. He - just a hard worker. Just that thing you think about with, like, just anyone who comes this country - that's my dad. He can do anything. Not just at work - comes home, he can cook, he can clean, fix the toilet, fix the car. He learned all these jobs just so he'd never have to pay another man.

I've always been really turned off by a show where you're kind of just rooting for someone regardless of the stupid things that they do, or regardless of how their ego is clearly driving what they're doing.

There's always going to be a gap between what you believe and what you actually do, regardless of what your background is.

I got to a point where I wanted to have some dignity in what I'm saying onstage. I want people to hear what I'm saying, regardless of whether or not it gets a laugh. That became a lot more rewarding than straight acting could ever be for me.

Representation is actually when the character doesn't have lines, but the camera is lingering on them in their thoughts after something happened, and then we get to see them walk to their car. You really need to follow a character in order to understand what they're going through.

Being in this industry is so crazy that I don't even know if I could be in it if I didn't have faith. You have to have some level of it to want to keep doing this. Everyone who's been in this long enough has some sort of practice.

I just remember always wanting to make things. That was what was really interesting to me, but I had no career goal in sight. I didn't know anybody that had anything to do with show business.

That's what you do if you're from Jersey. You make a big decision at a diner at 3 in the morning.

North Jersey is one of the best places on earth. I love living there. I want to raise my kids there. It's my favorite state in the country.

You could probably convince me that North Jersey and South Jersey should be two separate states. They're just so different.

We're built to need a thing. I do think everyone has god. It's just, who's god for you? Is it god in the sky? Is it Shantel who teaches hot yoga Thursday mornings? Is it the person you're in a relationship with? I hope not.

I got a camera at a very young age, but I always kind of thought of it as a hobby.

We're not all Jon Stewart. I know I'm not. I dropped out of college. Why would you come to me for anything that may influence your fact-based perspective? I think that the job of a comic is to be emotionally true.

My generation grew up on 'The Daily Show.' Jon Stewart gave me solace. He was the only person who I felt defended Muslims when crazy things were happening; the only place you could find a nuanced take on Iraq was Jon Stewart's show.

I always felt like the only messaging I was hearing around faith was, you need to be perfect or you can leave.

I think showing people being messy and showing them being wrong and showing them in their humanity is something that we can do, but it becomes difficult because there's this weight put on comedy to be part of change and I'm like, 'I don't think it changes anything.'

I don't even want a song to ramp up the drama, you know? I want music to be there only when it really enhances the feeling.

If you want a show to talk about politics or the Muslim ban or whatever - someone should make that show. That's not what I'm interested in.

In a gray area, you don't have to provide an answer. And I don't want to. I don't want to make a comedy that's like, well, here's the answer. I don't want to make a comedy that's like, this is how to be a Muslim.

I didn't want 'Ramy' to be a commercial, like 'Hey, Muslims are good!' We're underrepresented, so the instinct when we get an opportunity like this is to show people that we're good, that we have the same shared values. What's more important to me is showing that we have the same flaws.

I just want people to see Muslims as human. That's it.

I don't want to protect my characters. I don't do it with Muslims, either. My job is not to make us look perfect. My job is to make us look messy.