Oscar Isaac Helped May Calamawy Get Her Bearings On The Moon Knight Set
Marvel's "Moon Knight" obviously has die-hard Marvel Comics fans excited for what the series has to offer in the remaining episodes, as episode 3, "The Friendly Type," fully embraced the Egyptian mythology at the heart of the titular superhero. While "Moon Knight" sees Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke assuming the central roles of Steven Grant/Marc Spector and cult leader Arthur Harrow, respectively, May Calamawy's Layla has also been revealed to be a key part of the puzzle — and has helped ground the storyline in meaningful ways.
Previously, we learned that Calamawy landed her role in a rather unconventional way, after consulting producer Sarah Goher reached out to her on Instagram. Calamawy expressed the challenges that came with acting alongside the likes of Isaac and Hawke, but in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly she also describes how Isaac helped her get her bearings during a scene she struggled with.
Now, there's already a long list of reasons why Isaac is so beloved as an actor, and this act of generosity really adds to that list, as it helped Calamawy belt out a performance that was "nice and effortless."
"It was just very generous."
Layla doesn't fit the typical mold of female love interests who are simply presented to advance the plot; she is an integral part of the "Moon Knight" universe and the show's core storyline. Perhaps the only character in the show who knows Marc well (even if she was unaware of Steven's existence until very recently), Layla is an archaeologist with deep insight into Egyptian mythology.
When asked about her best memory on set with Isaac, Calamawy explained how she was "very intimidated" at first, and she tried her best to not "mess anything up." This is understandable, given that playing Layla in "Moon Knight" is Calamawy's biggest role to date, and it's natural to feel nervous while shooting intense scenes on a project with such high stakes. Calamawy went on to detail how Isaac took out the time to help her out when she felt stuck during a certain scene, which was being filmed by showrunner Mohamed Diab:
"In the beginning, I was very intimidated, and I was just trying to act cool. It's not good for your acting when you're trying to act anything. You should really just be honest about where you are at every moment. Finally, I started to admit, 'Yeah, okay, I'm a little scared. Okay, fine, I'm very scared. And I don't want to mess anything up.'
"I loved this one moment, where Mohamed was filming a really simple scene, and it looked like I was just doing nothing. I looked at Oscar and told him, 'I really don't know how to do this scene right now. There's a lot going on in this split second.' He walked me through it, like, 'Okay, this is what's going on, and then you're seeing this and feeling this.' He completely directed me in that moment. It just came out so easily, and it felt so nice and effortless. I always thank him for that, like, 'You're doing this incredibly intense scene, and yet you took the time to help me.' It was just very generous."
The whole thing is just so sweet, no notes. Here's to seeing Layla grow as a character in the upcoming episodes of "Moon Knight."
The first 3 episodes of "Moon Knight" are currently available on Disney+.