May Calamawy is an Egyptian-Palestinian actress who is best remembered for her role as Dena Hassan in the American television series Ramy (2019-Present) and as Layla El-Faouly in the Disney+ miniseries, Moon Knight (2022). Additionally, she has had guest roles in other television shows like Madam Secretary (2017), The Brave (2017), The Long Road Home (2017), FBI (2018), etc.
Born Name
May el-Calamawy
Nick Name
May
May Calamawy as seen in 2011 (Z / Wikimedia / CC BY 3.0 DEED)
Sun Sign
Scorpio
Born Place
Bahrain
Residence
Los Angeles, California, United States
Nationality
Egyptian, Palestinian
Education
She finished her high school education in Bahrain. At the age of 17, she traveled to Boston in Massachusetts to study industrial design.
Furthermore, May attended Emerson College and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in theater studies. She has also taken acting lessons from the William Esper Studio located in New York City.
Occupation
Actress
Manager
May has been represented by –
Entertainment 360 in Los Angeles, California
William Morris Endeavor in Beverly Hills, California
Build
Slim
Height
5 ft 6¼ in or 168 cm
Weight
61 kg or 134.5 lbs
May Calamawy as seen in an Instagram picture taken in January 2023 (May Calamawy / Instagram)
Race / Ethnicity
White
She has Egyptian ancestry on her father’s side and is of Jordanian and Palestinian descent on her mother’s side.
Hair Color
Black
Eye Color
Hazel
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
Freckles
Curly hair
May Calamawy as seen taking an Instagram selfie with Ethan Hawke and Oscar Isaac in March 2022 (May Calamawy / Instagram)
May Calamawy Facts
She can speak fluently in English and Arabic languages.
At the beginning of her career, she went by her full name ‘May El Calamawy’. She only changed it to ‘May Calamawy’ after 2014.
May was diagnosed with alopecia areata at the age of 22 years. The autoimmune disease causes hair loss in some or all parts of the body. Moreover, her medical condition was added to the storyline of her character Dena Hassan during the second season of Ramy.
In 2013, she made her first major film appearance as Aisha in Tobe Hooper’s supernatural horror film, Djinn. The film holds the distinction of being the first horror film produced in the United Arab Emirates. Lastly, it is also the last film directed by Hooper before his death in 2017.
May was born in Bahrain but has lived in different cities around the world like Houston (Texas), Doha (Qatar), Boston (Massachusetts), New York City (New York), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Los Angeles (California), and Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates).
Before starting shooting for Moon Knight, she practiced and rehearsed her own stunts for nearly 2 months so that she could do the maximum stunts herself on the show.
May’s first celebrity crush was Sean Murray in the role of Thackery Binx in Hocus Pocus (1993).
Her character of Layla El-Faouly in the acclaimed series Moon Knight was the first character of Arab/Middle Eastern origin to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
May had auditioned for the lead role of Sabrina in the supernatural horror series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, but the role eventually went to Kiernan Shipka.
She voiced the character of Ellie Malik in the video game, NBA 2K21 (2020).
