Pathbreakers of Arab America—May Calamawy

posted on: Feb 18, 2026

By: John Mason / Arab America Contributing Writer

This is the one-hundred and tenth in Arab America’s series on American pathbreakers of Arab descent. The series features personalities from various fields, including entertainment, business, sports, science, the arts, academia, journalism, and politics. Our one hundred and tenth pathbreaker is May Calamawy, an Egyptian-Palestinian who began her acting career by following her dream, moving from Bahrain to Boston, where she attended theatre school. From a role on Golden Globe-winning ‘Ramy’ to a part on Disney+ and Marvel’s ‘address the Knight.’ Her success in film ultimately gave her a platform to signal attention to the death and suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

On establishing a successful theater and film career in the U.S., May Calamawy has shown many facets of her talent

May El Calamawy, her birth name, was born in Bahrain on October 28, 1986, to an Egyptian father, a banker, and a Palestinian-Jordanian mother. Raised mostly in Bahrain, May also spent six years living between Doha, Qatar, and Houston, Texas, all before she was twelve years old. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in theatre studies from Emerson College and later trained at the William Esper Studio in New York. Calamawy began her acting career in independent cinema, making her feature film debut in ‘Thursday’ (2006), followed by a series of short films, then by roles in the Hulu comedy-drama ‘Ramy’ (2019–2022), ‘Together Together’ (2021), and ‘The Actor’ (2025).

Calamawy noted, according to Wikipedia’s series on Arab Americans, that “she was inspired to become an actress after watching the film ‘Death Becomes Her’ (1992) when she was a child.” On completing high school in Bahrain, May moved to Boston, Massachusetts. She initially studied industrial design, which was her father’s preference over acting school. Neither parent was convinced that acting was the way for their daughter to go, preferring “a degree that was more specialized and would guarantee a career.” May did not agree and told her parents she had applied to Emerson College and “If I get in, I’m going.”

May did get in and went on to earn a B.A. in theatre studies. Calamawy’s mother began to accept the idea of her pursuing an acting career after college and became her daughter’s main champion. Her mother passed away a few years later, which inspired May to focus on acting. After Emerson, she enrolled at the William Esper Studio in New York City. She started her career acting in short films under her birth name, May El Calamawy, later shortening it to May Calamawy. In 2006, she made her feature film debut in ‘Thursday,’ followed by her first major film role in the 2013 supernatural horror film ‘Djinn,’ the first horror film produced in the United Arab Emirates.

May began recurring roles in 2017 in the National Geographic miniseries ‘The Long Road Home’ and in guest-starring roles in ‘The Brave and Madam Secretary.’ The following year, she guest-starred in the CBS crime drama television series ‘FBI.’ In October 2018, it was announced that May would have a recurring role in the Hulu comedy-drama series ‘Ramy, playing Ramy’s sister, Dena Hassan. In 2021, May appeared in the comedy film ‘Together Together’ with Ed Helms and Patti Harrison.

In 2022, Calamawy starred in the Disney+ miniseries ‘Moon Knight,’ based on the Marvel Comics featuring the character of the same name. She portrayed Layla El-Faouly, an Egyptian archeologist and estranged wife of Marc Spector (portrayed by Oscar Isaac), who later became “the Scarlet Scarab, the first Egyptian and first Arab superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.” May then turned to doing voices for various animated series. In April 2025, she joined the cast of Lee Cronin’s supernatural horror film, ‘The Mummy.’

One publication, ‘Madame Arabia,’ describes May Calamawy as more than meets the eye, “being the first Arab superhero [and] tackling stereotypes.” Referring to May as an Egyptian actor, she “exudes charm and warmth in quantities that make her feel like an old friend. Unapologetically self-assured, she speaks with a candidness that’s sometimes missing in those who’ve tasted Hollywood.” May responded, “It’s because I’m not trying to be someone I’m not…I’m still a work-in-progress, and I don’t try to sugar-coat that. I don’t act like I have more than I have, or that I can do more than I can do.” She attributes her well-being to “a variety of holistic approaches including meditation, reiki, and energy healing…”

Encapsulating May’s popularity and her strong sense of her Arabness is a line in the sixth and final episode of ‘Moon Knight,’ which is set against the backdrop of the Pyramids, where a young local girl asks, “Are you an Egyptian superhero? And Calamawy’s character replies, ‘Yes’. It’s a poignant moment for viewers who don’t often see this representation of Arab women, and probably why many young women now look at Calamawy as a role model.” On a personal level, May was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease alopecia areata at the age of 22. Her alopecia was incorporated into the storyline of her character Dena Hassan in ‘Ramy’ during the show’s second season.

Calamawy, in signing an October 2023 open letter for the Artists4Ceasefire campaign calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is standing her ground on Palestinians

Calamawy is cited in an NPR report as one of dozens of famous entertainers as signatories to the entertainment industry A-listers’ letter to then-President Biden urging a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. Created by a group of Hollywood insiders, the letter’s signatories included such celebrities as Cate Blanchett, America Ferrera, Bassem Youssef, Jon Stewart, Dua Lipa, Hasan Minhaj, Oscar Isaac and Michael Stipe. The letter in no way excused the iniquity of the devastating attack by Hamas on Israel during its launch on October 7, 2023, of the Israel-Gaza war, which led to the deaths of more than 1,400 Israelis.

The Biden administration, of course, reiterated the “unwavering U.S. support for Israel” in statements and has supported Israel’s retaliation for the October 7 attacks by Hamas. Some three years later, at least 55,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded, the majority of whom are children and women. The Trump administration has made several moves to resolve the war, to this point without success, and Hamas continues to have at least a limited military role.

As a result of her role in signing the open letter, Calamawy has paid a price. Her major acting role in the film ‘Gladiator II’ was cancelled. According to Middle East Eye (MEE), “Social media users have criticized the makers of the new ‘Gladiator II’ film for cutting out all scenes of Egyptian Palestinian actress May Calamawy, who was expected to have a major role in the blockbuster film.” The filmmakers were accused of being anti-Palestinian for cutting Calamawy scenes, scheduled for a 2024-2025 release. “Many believe it was due to her Palestinian heritage and public support for Gaza, while others say it was to shorten the two-and-a-half-hour film.”

Naturally, Arab and Middle Eastern audiences who had seen Calamawy in her breakout role in Marvel Studio’s ‘Moon Knight’ and the hit Hulu series, ‘Ramy’ had looked forward to her starring role in ‘Gladiator II.’ However, MEE reported, “It was a surprise to many audience members who watched the film when it premiered on Thursday that Calamawy was not the female lead they were expecting, nor was she even supporting cast: she had no dialogue and was only seen in the background of a few scenes…Regardless of the reasoning behind Calamawy’s restricted role, the immediate reaction has tarnished the excitement for the film for many pro-Palestine viewers.”

May Calamawy is an inspiration to budding actors, among others, for her persistence in building her theater and film career. Then, by taking her acting career one step further, May has demonstrated how a successful actor can use her celebrity to promote the cause of her people, the Palestinians, even if that means paying the price for standing up.

Sources:
-“May Calamawy,” Wikipedia Series on Arab Americans, 2026
-“Entertainment industry A-listers sign a letter to Biden urging a cease-fire in Gaza” NPR, 10/21/2023
-“May Calamawy on being the first Arab superhero and tackling stereotypes”. Madame Arabia, 1/25/2025
-“Gladiator filmmakers accused of being anti-Palestinian for cutting May Calamawy scenes,” Middle East Eye, 11/15/2024

John Mason, Ph.D., focuses on Arab culture, society, and history and is the author of LEFT-HANDED IN AN ISLAMIC WORLD: An Anthropologist’s Journey into the Middle East, New Academia Publishing, 2017 and of his new novel, WHISPERS FROM THE DESERT: Zaki, a Little Genie’s Tales of Good and Evil (2025), under his pen name, Yahia Al-Banna. He has taught at the University of Libya in Benghazi, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, and the American University in Cairo. John served with the United Nations in Tripoli, Libya, and consulted extensively on socioeconomic and political development for USAID and the World Bank in 65 countries.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Arab America. The reproduction of this article is permissible with proper credit to Arab America and the author.

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