May Calamawy was 22 when she first lost her hair. She was in Dubai at the time and didn’t know what to do. She tried to look for answers online but she could only find forums that told her that her hair would never grow back. And so she cut her hair short and vowed to never look at forums about alopecia again.
Fast forward to 2020 and Calamawy is now a cast member on Hulu’s Golden Globe-winning comedy Ramy, in which she stars as Dena, the eldest daughter in an Egyptian-American family who often criticizes the cultural double standards between her and her younger brother, Ramy.
In the show’s second season, which premiered on May 29, Dena has an episode where she notices a bald spot on her head. She does everything to make her hair grow back, including rubbing a clove of garlic and oil on the spot, but nothing works. The episode was inspired by a conversation she had with creator Ramy Youssef about a bout of alopecia she had while filming Ramy.
“Ramy came to me and asked if I wanted to show it,” Calamawy tells StyleCaster. “Initially, I didn’t. It’s not something that I’ve ever spoken about. But he convinced me pretty fast in the same conversation. It was a very healing experience to put it out there. I wish I had been aware of other people who went through it when I first got it. I want to connect with other people who are going through it because it’s quite common. It’s just not spoken about.”
She continued, “It’s funny that it happened for the show. It’s almost like it was meant to be.”
Ahead, Calamawy talked to StyleCaster about how her experience on Ramy changed how she views her hair, where she wants Dena’s storyline to go and how her character breaks stereotypes about Middle Eastern women.
Image: Hulu.
On how she was cast in Ramy
“I met Ramy six months before the show through one of my best friends, who plays the uncle. He knew Ramy because we all went to the same acting school and he was like, ‘You need to meet Ramy. The Arab community all knows each other.’ I met him, and I remember Ramy being like, ‘Hey. Will you audition for this one role.’ It was one of the girls in the pilot who he goes on a date with. I checked out the breakdown and I was like, ‘No. I want to audition for the sister.’ After that, it was the regular audition and call back process.”
On how Dena differs from other characters she’s auditioned for
“I’ve never seen a role like this ever, ever, ever. When it comes to Middle Eastern roles, it’s mostly a woman who’s fighting for some major cause or trauma in her life. She’s protecting her children. Just really high stakes. This was a girl in a family who understands both cultures of the Middle East and America, and it felt so familiar to me.”
On how Dena breaks Middle Eastern stereotypes
“It’s funny because I grew up half of my life in the Middle East and half of my life in the states. I feel clouded by what people think of Middle Eastern or Muslim women. It’s mixed. Either they’re covered from head to toe and they’re very conservative or they’re breaking all the rules and they’re estranged from their family. It’s either these two, but there’s this middle ground where people are trying to figure out how to exist with both of these sides. I hope this show and Dena’s character can help show a more universal side to Arab women and that we have the same needs, desires and care about the same things as everyone else.”
Image: Hulu.
On her reaction to Ramy Youssef winning his Golden Globe
“I was in New York, just at home and hanging out. I was like, ‘Lemme watch this. Whatever.’ It was so weird because it happened so fast. It started and then it was the first nomination to be read. And then it was him and I was like, ‘What?!’ I freaked out and called a bunch of people. We were all freaking out together. It was really surreal.”
On how Ramy changed her relationship with her hair
“In season 1, I didn’t want to leave my hair curly. It was just so humid that I didn’t have a choice. By leaving it curly, a lot of women contacted me and would talk about how it was revolutionary to them and how it’s helped them accept their hair and now they wear it curly. I was like, ‘Oh wow. That wasn’t even my plan.’ Them reaching out to me helped me accept my hair. I haven’t not left my hair curly since then, which is huge for me. There’s a part of me that’s recognized that the healing doesn’t necessarily only come from putting it out there, but it’s the connection that I create with people. I know that the more I connect with people over this, it will help me also reach the full self-acceptance that I want. It’s hard in this industry. It’s really easy to get trapped into how you look as well. It’s an ongoing process.”
On where she wants Dena’s storyline to go in season 3
“I want to see her stepping into herself. It almost feels like she’s just waiting for something to happen to her, and it feels like nothing is working out for her. I want her to develop some agency, whether that’s exploring her faith more or exploring who she wants to be outside of just work. I feel like her work is also an escape route for her. It’s almost like she’s still scared to make a mistake. I want her to be the kind of person, where, ‘Who cares if her hair is falling out because she’s stressed?’ Where she just owns what’s happening to her and learns how to comfort herself. I see her a little stuck and looking outside of herself a lot. I want her to find that courage and look within. What that looks like from an episode, I have no idea.”
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