Bella Hadid’s Ramy Role Is More than a Glorified Cameo 

Back in March, Bella Hadid joined the cast of Ramy, comedian Ramy Youssef’s autofictive dramedy about the life of a young Egyptian-American man roaming around New Jersey and exploring different aspects of his Muslim faith. The casting, marking Hadid’s acting debut, was a savvy move for the show, which sought to widen the scope of Muslim life represented onscreen after its insular first season focusing on Ramy and his family. Season two brought in Mahershala Ali to play a hot sheikh, bringing Black Muslims more deeply into the show’s fold. Casting Hadid, who is half-Palestinian and is an extremely vocal advocate for Palestinian causes, for season three was yet another widening of the lens. And it was heartening for Hadid herself, who recently told GQ that she cried the first day of shooting because she was gifted a “Free Palestine” t-shirt by the crew. 

So, who does Hadid play in the show’s third season? She turns up in episode four as Lena, Steve’s (Steve Way) girlfriend. The duo met on MuslimMatch, despite the fact that Steve is very much not a believer of the faith. Ramy meets the two of them for dinner, where Lena is sitting quietly, picking at some bread. Once she starts talking, it’s clear that she’s completely obsessed with one thing, and one thing only: The Office. The tip-off is her first line of dialogue: a poorly timed, “That’s what she said,” joke, a reference to the NBC sitcom’s most enduring punchline. The more she talks, the worse it gets. The Office, a long-running series about the everyday foibles of a paper company office in Scranton, Pennsylvania, seems to literally be the only thing she knows, though she’s not able to talk about it with tremendous nuance or passion. Lena is passive and ASMR-level quiet in her line delivery, introspective about the only topic that has taken up all available real estate in her mind. When offering up why she loves the NBC sitcom so much, she simply says: “The Office is really relatable. I really like that show. A lot.”

It becomes so strange that when Lena leaves to go to the bathroom (by abruptly declaring “bathroom,” then leaving), Ramy tells Steve she seems “spectrum-ish.” Steve waves it away, defending his girlfriend—who, of course, returns shortly from the bathroom and tells them that the short trip reminded her of the Dwight-centric “toilet office” scene from the show. 

The role is gently bizarre and unexpected, a hard left from any perception one might have of Hadid’s own real-world persona. Lena, who is dressed in a turtleneck under a button-down shirt under a sweater, is decidedly unglamorous, which Hadid seems to delight in portraying. It’s a small, unshowy acting debut, only taking up a few minutes in the entire episode. But it’s a memorable, if silly, turn. You almost wish there was more there for Lena to do and say; more surrealist dialogue, or a narrative twist that could heighten the strangeness of her presence, playing off the fact that Hadid, of all people, is tackling this role. But it’s fun to see her play off of Way, who gets some of the show’s best and most caustic punchlines, and whose relationship with Lena quickly reveals a softer side to his character. 

That said, it is deeply funny that Ramy’s writers are using Hadid as the instrument through which to comment on society’s undying obsession with The Office, particularly when it comes to the firm grasp the show has on online dating culture. It’s seemingly a go-to for both Millennials and Gen Z, united in their mutual obsession with Michael Scott and his carousel of buffoonery, a sitcom that bridges the generations. Lena, it turns out, would fit right in.