We interview Moon Knight star May Calamawy about making her MCU debut in the limited series, sharing Marvel secrets and more.
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The Marvel Cinematic Universe has opened up yet another part of the world with the studio's latest offering, Moon Knight, starring Oscar Isaac as the titular character. Now streaming on Disney+, the series also stars British-Egyptian actress May Calamawy as Layla El-Faouly, a woman with an important connection to one of the hero's alter egos. While the first episode premiered last week, Calamawy's character will get a more in-depth introduction in tomorrow's episode, as audiences learn more about who Steven Grant and Marc Spector (two of the characters Isaac plays) are.
Screen Rant spoke with Calamawy to discuss how it felt to join the MCU through Moon Knight, how good of a secret keeper she is, and what her goals were when portraying Layla.
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Screen Rant: Congratulations on joining the Marvel Universe. It's got to feel incredible.
May Calamawy: It's so fun. I keep trying to just sit in the moment of it and enjoy it. I have so much respect for what's been done, and to just even be part of it... I don't think it's hit me fully.
How are you at keeping secrets? Are you more of a Tom Holland, or are you more of a Kevin Feige? Where are you on the scale?
May Calamawy: I think I'm pretty good.
I told my 5-year-old nephew [some things]. He's a huge Marvel fan. He asked me some stuff about the show, and I told him. Then he went and told my brother, and my brother was really annoyed at me. I was like, "Why did I expect so much from a 5-year-old?" After that, I was like, "It's just more fun." It's because I know it's in service of the other person not to know that it's easy to keep it.
Ethan Hawke mentioned yesterday in the press conference that you would push back or give a lot of input for Layla as a character. What was your number one goal in playing her?
May Calamawy: It was finding someone who was authentic to the circumstance. Because I didn't want to pull inspiration from someone in the West. I specifically wanted to do that with women from the Middle East, because the way we've been raised and our mannerisms and our conditioning is so different.
I had to really sit with what does that look like, and how would someone from there react to a situation versus someone from somewhere else. Something I love about our women is that their strength is sometimes a little unassuming. It's a very soft strength, but it's really there. And I was like, "How can I bring some of that to Layla?"
I feel like it came in a lot of the vulnerability, but also in that ability to really take a lot in and not make it about her, but just kind of fight through.
Speaking of fighting through, there's a moment we see in the trailer of her starting to kick ass and do all these acrobatics. What was your training like?
May Calamawy: We had two months. Before coming, I was like, "Guys, should I do some free running or learn how to climb?" And they were like, "No, no, no, come to us." For two months, two hours a day, I had to do stunt training. And then my own trainer came with me and trained me, so that was three hours of training a day.
My body was broken the first week, but the stunt team were so much fun that I genuinely felt so happy and was so grateful every day to go work with them. They were all so excited to choreograph for Layla, and that dynamic was great because it's not easy. You're throwing yourself into things. But I felt so supported, and my stunt doubles were incredible.
Also, they wanted me to do most of the stunts. I was the one that was like, "Okay, this is where I need you." I wasn't trying to do everything.
Marvel has an expansive cast, and a lot of them go and support each other at the premieres. Who are you dying to meet?
May Calamawy: I'd love to meet Florence Pugh because I really respect her.
I have a lot of respect for Scarlett Johansson because she started this when it was all men, and that's not easy. She's another person I'd love to meet. I like all the women. I'm like, "I want to meet them."
And then... I love Korg, so Taika [Waititi].
Lastly, a lot of people are wondering who Layla is. Is this someone we've seen on the page before? Were you given any of that information, or did you start fresh with her?
May Calamawy: We have some. There is a kind of a genesis for her, but it's not her. It's someone else, and I don't want to give any spoilers away. But that didn't inform who she was.
It informed some parts of it, but we really had to collaborate to come up with who this woman is. It took some time of filming for me to feel that, but it's still an exploration. It's hard when there isn't a reference to go by.
The series follows Steven Grant, a mild-mannered gift-shop employee, who becomes plagued with blackouts and memories of another life. Steven discovers he has dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with mercenary Marc Spector. As Steven/Marc's enemies converge upon them, they must navigate their complex identities while thrust into a deadly mystery among the powerful gods of Egypt.
Check out our interviews with Moon Knight star Ethan Hawke and director Mohamed Diab as well.
Moon Knight is now streaming on Disney+, with new episodes debuting on Wednesdays.
