[ad_1]
NEW YORK (AP) — Up-and-coming comedian Mo Amer opened Dave Chappelle in 2014 when the more established comedian made a suggestion: Amer should make a short film about his performance.
“I started thinking about this short film. I put it together and I was obsessed. Then I wrote it and all my friends were like, ‘This is genius, bro. You need to save it for the TV series.’ I was like, ‘Words? TV series?’ And since then, I’ve accumulated all these stories from my mother, my family…my history, my refugee experience in America, elements of fish out of water. “
Amer’s real family history is the basis for his new Netflix drama “Mo.” He describes the series as a love letter to his Palestinian heritage and homeland.
“While it’s a refugee story, a Palestinian immigrant story, it’s also a love letter to Houston. It’s also like a struggle (story) for ordinary people—people who work for paychecks and who try to take care of them family, those who are dealing with addiction,” the 41-year-old said. “It has all these layers.”
The first season consists of eight-and-a-half-hour episodes written by Amer and Emmy-nominated actor Ramy Youssef, Amer’s good friend and former roommate. “Mo,” and shows like Youssef’s acclaimed “Rami,” are part of a growing — but still poorly represented — movement in Hollywood to bring Muslim and Middle Eastern stories to the masses.
The show follows Mo Najjar (played by Amer) as his family, including his mother (Farah Bsieso) and brother (Omar Elba), live in the Houston area where many American immigrants are forced to: seek jobs without citizenship , thus doing odd, secret jobs, and manipulating a generally ruthless health care system and trying to fit into society.
Similar to the storyline, Amer’s own parents were originally from Palestine and then fled to Kuwait. Amer was born there, but the Gulf War forced them to leave and eventually settle in Texas. A conversation with his mother, Amer, about his family history and their struggles helped develop the blueprint. However, he also struggled to learn previously untold truths, including how his father was tortured in Kuwait.
In the series, flashbacks provide context, some crucial to the show and his real life; the seventh episode begins with his mother cleverly hiding money and the family preparing to flee Kuwait.
“My mom started crying when she saw it. She was like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe you recreated this like this. She was like, ‘How do you remember the house, the colors, the stuff on the walls?'” Amer Proud recalled. “I can’t forget that.”
Houston is known for many things: space exploration, world-renowned medical centers, and the slow-paced hip-hop music known as Spiral; what the fourth-largest city in the United States is lesser-known is the film and television industry. However, Amer insisted on filming there, aiming to improve the authenticity of the show. Although several blockbusters were filmed in Houston in the early ’90s, it wasn’t a filmmaker’s destination.
Local talent from all over Texas was hired to work on the production, and there were some notable cameos, including Houston rapper Tobe Nwigwe, who played Najjar’s best friend, as well as famed Texas flag bearer Paul Wall and the legendary Bun B’s cameo. Southern duo, UGK.
“It really struck me that a narrative sitcom that was never filmed in Houston, a homegrown series, made me realize how ridiculous what Houston has to offer,” he explained. “From the choice of music…to the clothing, accents, feel, graphics, photography, everything was well thought out. There’s nothing we haven’t really considered.”
“Mo” has become one of the most talked-about and binge-worthy shows of 2022, attracting audiences from diverse backgrounds and deeply respected by many Middle Eastern Americans. But he stressed that the show has been in the works for a long time.
“Netflix dropped everything on the same day and was like, ‘BOOM! Here it is.’ But these episodes were really thinking about many, many years,” he said. “You want it to resonate that way, and when it happens, it’s so reassuring. Like, ‘They got it. I didn’t screw this up.'”___
Follow AP Entertainment reporter Gary Gerard Hamilton and @GaryGHamilton on all social media platforms.
[ad_2]
Source link