DUBAI: Oscar-nominated US actress Amanda Seyfried joined the cast of “Martha & Muhammad,” the first feature film written and directed by Egyptian-American comedian Ramy Youssef.
Seyfried will star alongside Youssef and US actress Sharon Stone in the comedy, which is being financed and distributed by US studio A24. Details of her character have not been revealed. Stone was nominated for an Oscar for her role in US director Martin Scorsese’s “Casino.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, which announced the project in August, the film follows a widowed New York socialite who develops a relationship with a young Muslim man. The story touches on class, religion, immigration and age.
Youssef is producing through his company Cairo Cowboy alongside US filmmakers Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein, as well as “The Bear” creator Christopher Storer. Filming was set to take place in New York.
Born in New York to Egyptian parents who moved to the US in the 1980s, Youssef rose to fame with “Ramy,” his semi-autobiographical Hulu series about a young Egyptian American man in New Jersey navigating his Muslim faith and American upbringing. The show’s cast included Egyptian actor Amr Waked and Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass.
The series won Youssef a Golden Globe for best actor in a TV comedy in 2020. It went on to earn three Emmy nominations that year.
In March 2024, Youssef hosted “Saturday Night Live,” where he called for the freedom of Palestine. He also had a role in Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things.” In 2025, he co-created the animated series “#1 Happy Family USA” for Amazon Prime Video.
Seyfried rose to fame with the 2004 comedy “Mean Girls” and later starred in the musical “Mamma Mia!” She won an Emmy in 2022 for playing Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in “The Dropout” and earned an Oscar nomination for her role in US director David Fincher’s “Mank.”
In 2025, she received two Golden Globe nominations, for the series “Long Bright River” and for “The Testament of Ann Lee,” in which she played the 18th-century leader of the Shakers religious movement. She also starred opposite US actress Sydney Sweeney in the thriller “The Housemaid.”