From 'Ramy' to 'Black Adam', Mo Amer's star keeps rising

As his career goes from strength to strength, the Palestinian-American actor hopes to take a generation of diverse talents with him

Mohammed Amer as Karim, right, and Sarah Shahi as Adrianna Tomaz in 'Black Adam'. AP

Mo Amer couldn’t help getting a little emotional when he first walked on the set of Black Adam.

Set in the fictional Middle Eastern city of Kahndaq, the latest DC blockbuster tells the story of Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam. After using his superpowers for revenge, Adam is imprisoned for 5,000 years. Once he’s set free in the modern version of Kahndaq, Adam uses his immense powers blithely, until the Justice Society of America’s gang of superheroes tries to get him under control.

This is where Amer’s character Karim comes in, as he is the brother of archaeologist Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi), who wakes up Adam from his forced slumber.

“It was emotional for me to walk on set and see a fictionalised Middle East being essentially war-torn. It was surreal. It was tough emotionally because I know that my people, and people from all backgrounds, have gone through this,” Amer tells The National.

At the same time, though, Amer instantly recognises just how important it is for a film of this size and scale to be set in the region, even if the country is made up. “It's special. It's history. No matter what the movie does, it's planting a seed for the future," he says. "Hopefully Black Adam will give birth to a lot more opportunities.”

Throughout his career, Amer, who is Palestinian-American, always strives to improve Arab representation across a number of different mediums. Born in Kuwait, at the age of 9, Amer fled the country during the Gulf War along with his brother, sister and mother, emigrating to the US and eventually settling in Houston, Texas.

Scroll through images of 'Black Adam' below

Dwayne Johnson plays the titular character in 'Black Adam'. All photos: AP

Pierce Brosnan, left, plays Doctor Fate in the film.

Noah Centineo as the dweeby and always hungry giant Atom Smasher.

Doctor Fate and Hawkman are members of the knock-off organisation, Justice Society of America.

Black Adam can fly, move as fast as The Flash, catch rockets, deflect bullets and harness his own bluish electricity.

Sarah Shahi, left, plays a rebel leader, and Brosnan's Doctor Fate seems to be a dollar-store version of Doctor Strange.

Quintessa Swindell stars as Cyclone, whose superpower is the ability to control wind.

Aldis Hodge, right, plays the one-note Hawkman.

Cyclone is also a member of Justice Society of America.

Among all the superheroes, Sarah Shahi and Mo Amer play two regular people.

Johnson has called 'Black Adam' his passion project and it has been more than a decade in the making.

Sarah Shahi, left, and Mo Amer also star in the film.

Dwayne Johnson makes his big-screen debut as the DC Comics anti-hero in 'Black Adam'.

After graduating high school, he started performing stand-up comedy across the city. Almost immediately it became his profession. “Stand-up is my number one outlet," he says. "That’s my baby. That’ll always be there. Telling stories is why I got into this business to begin with.”

Over the ensuing years, Amer consistently worked as a stand-up comedian, performing tours across the globe, as well as on TV specials. It was far from easy, though. At times, Amer was even advised to make drastic changes to get more opportunities.

“I was encouraged to change my name so I could get work and basically rid myself of my background. Which is absurd,” he says.

Amer turned down these requests. Then, in 2019, his popularity finally flourished thanks to his starring role as Mo in the hit series Ramy. Amer was so popular on Ramy that he was soon working on his own series, Mo, which went live on Netflix in August, inspired by his own true story of waiting nearly 20 years to become a US citizen.

Earlier this year, Amer became the first Palestinian lead on US television with his Netflix show 'Mo'. Photo: Netflix

“My show is grounded in my life. It’s in my DNA. That doesn’t make it easy to write, though,” Amer explains. “We probably write 200 pages for each episode and then use just 27. We have to chisel it down. It requires a lot of effort.”

Even though Mo’s first season has only been on Netflix for less than two months, Amer has attracted praise from viewers who recognise him on the street, as they feel like they’re being represented on screen for the first time.

“Whenever I'm walking around, and people recognise me, they are very emotional, because they connect to the storylines so deeply," he says. "I think very few things do that, honestly. That is one of the most incredible things. That to me is everything. That’s the feedback I want and welcome.

"I want to know what people think and what we tapped into that makes them feel so emotional. Because you’re trying to reach as many people as possible. I think it’s really important.”

With the release of Black Adam, Amer believes that it’s a “beautiful time” for Middle Eastern representation on screen. Although he also believes that it’s “about time that this happened", adding: “This could have been years ago. It's wild to me that an ancient people like the Arabs are just now being able to tell their stories that are relatable and real.”

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Sarah Shahi, left, and Mohammed Amer in a scene from "Black Adam. " (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

Amer still hasn’t found the time to process his recent success; not simply because of how busy he is, but because he needs some extra years behind him to reflect on how far he's come.

“I think it will take years and years to unpackage the historical nature of what I'm doing and what’s happening," he says. "I've always felt it would, just because of how long it took me to get here and how big of a struggle it was to get here.”

Now that he’s in such a prominent position, Amer has no plans to slow down. In fact, he just wants to continue to do what he’s always been best at: telling stories. But while busy writing and developing scripts, he also wants to make sure that he helps out those close to him, too.

“I want to produce projects for my extremely talented friends. There are a lot of opportunities. It’s about organising them and seeing what’s next," he says. "I just want to tell really unique and special stories that are grounded, real and honest that have the opportunity to make an impact. In the end, that's really what it's all about.”

Scroll through images of Mo Amer's acclaimed series 'Mo' below

Palestinian-American comedian Mo Amer stars in 'Mo', now available on Netflix. All photos: Netflix

Mo Amer plays Mo, a Palestinian-American who is fired from his job at a tech shop because his boss worried that the business will be the target of immigration authorities.

Mo, a charismatic and charming guy, decides to sell counterfeit products from the boot of his car in order to provide for his family.

From left, Mo's mother Yusra, played by Farah Bsieso, Mo's elder brother Sameer played by Omar Elba, and Mo Amer who stars as Mo.

The Najir family in 'Mo' were forced to flee Palestine in the 1940s and were displaced again in the 1990s during the Gulf War and left Kuwait for Houston, where they have lived awaiting for their asylum claim to be heard in court for 22 years.

Mo's older brother Sameer, played by Omar Elba, is on the autism spectrum.

Mo and his Catholic Mexican girlfriend Maria, played by Teresa Ruiz.

Maria is an intricate part of Mo's support system. She's a capable business owner who suffers from her own family trauma and is eager to impress Mo's mother who would prefer that Mo date a Muslim woman.

Intergenerational and cross-cultural humour are woven into the serious themes of displacement and identity that Mo grapples with in his day-to-day life.

Mo bonds with Mexican workers in an olive grove in Houston, Texas, another place he attempts to work in without legal documentation.

Mo tells a saleswoman selling chocolate hummus to taste olive oil from Palestine.

Palestine and politics are debated in shisha-smoking cafes over a game of backgammon or cards, in 'Mo'.