Mohammed Amer, who plays Mo Naijar in the hit Netflix series Mo, has been speaking about being honoured by the AFI (winning TV programme of the year for 2022), as well as being nominated for a presigious Peabody Award.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, he said; “Getting honoured by the American Film Institute was the first like, ‘whoa’ moment. You think… to be sitting across from James Cameron and Spielberg, that was just crazy to me. And I was sitting there talking to ‘Slick’ (Solvan Naim, our director). Because nobody’s ever filmed a show in Houston. They were, like, literally trying to talk him into filming in their barber shop and then a year later we’re sitting there getting a letter from Steven Spielberg about how much he enjoyed the show.”
“It just brings tears to your eyes. Like, literally, it just makes it all so worth it. All that pain and all that struggle to get the show off the ground, and of course, to get a Peabody nomination is huge. I’m very, very excited about it and honoured, of course, and just tip my hat to the entire production team. Everybody’s efforts were the reason why we ended up getting this nomination.”
Mo is a mash up of both comedy series and drama series, and is loosely based on Amer’s own life. It follows a Palestinian refugee living in Houston, as he waits to be granted asylum in the US. It was co-created by Amer and Ramy Youssef. Youssef (who is of Egyptian descent) is also the creator of Ramy, which follows an American Muslim living in New Jersey.
Mo has a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critical consensus being; “Frequently hilarious while possessing an absorbing sense of place, Mo is a thoughtful depiction of the immigrant experience that is light on its feet.”
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