Steven Spielberg sent a letter to express his enjoyment of the Netflix show Mo, which made its lead star emotional.
Premiering in August of last year, the single-camera comedy centers around Mohammed Amer as a fictionalized version of himself.
The actor and comedian portrays Mo Najjar, a Palestinian refugee who constantly seems just one step away from obtaining asylum in the U.S. Najjar lives with his family in Houston, Texas.
Across eight episodes, Najjar hilariously adjusts to wild circumstances even as he faces some very specific struggles.
In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Amer discussed the series and reflected on his past interactions with Spielberg. In the quote below, Amer talks about sitting across from the legendary director and gets emotional while recalling Spielberg’s support.
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 honored, 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.
The series, which also stars Farah Bsieso, Omar Elba, Teresa Ruiz, and Tobe Nwigwe, is praised on the basis of its diversity and the respective it highlights.
The show brings focus to the life of a Palestinian refugee, something that’s rarely seen in the media. But it’s also important to note that Mo is genuinely entertaining as well. While a lot of half-hour programs on streaming lean more toward drama, the writing team knows to keep humor at the center of the narrative in spectacular ways.
The levity is clear right from the jump, as its main character cleverly hustles to make money, continually leaning on his smarts even as it leads him to comedic disaster.
And though there was disappointment that the upcoming Mo season 2 will be the last, Spielberg’s praise serves as another example that the perhaps underseen comedy is a real gem that should be discovered by more audiences.
