Exclusive Interview: Ryan Ali Talks ‘SkyMed’ Season 2, ‘Queen Tut,’ Blazing a Trail for Middle Eastern Actors, and More

Ryan Ali, one of the industry’s most captivating rising stars, showcases remarkable versatility as his career reaches unprecedented heights, seamlessly transitioning from the whimsical charm of Reese in SkyMed to the profound depth of character embodied in Nabil from Queen Tut.

As an artist and storyteller, Ryan embarked on his journey into acting later in his career, initially viewing the idea as a distant dream, particularly within his community. However, through his captivating performances on screen, he not only demonstrates the breadth of talent within Middle Eastern creatives but also illustrates the endless possibilities that abound.

Pop Culturalist had the distinct pleasure of conversing with Ryan about his latest roles in SkyMed and Queen Tut, delving into his journey within the industry, the significance of representation, and much more.

PC: You got a relatively late start in this industry. You were actually studying engineering before making the pivot into acting. What was that aha moment for you?
Ryan: That’s right. I did high school in Syria, so it was always this farfetched vision that I could be an actor. I imagined that I’d be an actor in some other lifetime or some other reality.

Then, once I was in Montreal and I was studying engineering, I realized there was a bit of an industry here. I thought that maybe I could take a class. I was eighteen. I took an acting class, and the rest is history.

PC: Now, you’re one of the stars of SkyMed. We were briefly introduced to your character towards the end of Season 1, and then you were promoted to a series regular for the second season. How did that collaboration with the writers’ room grow during the time in-between? How did that inform the direction of your character’s arc?
Ryan: It was such a great thing. When SkyMed Season 1 happened, it was at the very end of 2021. We were just coming out of COVID. It was one of the first gigs that I had done post that time. So I flew to Winnipeg, where we were filming Season 1, and I got to meet everybody. But in that notion that I’m only here for a few days, it feels like you’re a guest at someone’s house.

The first person that I worked with was actually Mercedes [Morris]. She was so welcoming. She was in it with me as if she saw this for us. “You’re going to be back in Season 2,” she said. I felt really good about it. It felt like the start of a journey rather than just a little chapter.

We alI connected via Instagram and stuff like that with a lot of the creator of the show and the writers. They really got a glimpse of who I am. I feel like I can be quite an open book on my Instagram. I feel like you get a glimpse of who I am as a person and the things that I’m passionate about and stuff like that. I’m glad they got to tap into that because a lot of what made it onto the show is who Reese (the character) is on SkyMed.

PC: There’s such fantastic chemistry that comes off the screen between everyone. As an actor, what is it like coming into an established cast and building that rapport with everyone? How does that differ with someone like Thomas [Elms], who your character has a shared past with?
Ryan: Oh my God. It’s something that I’ve always been curious about. When you follow TV shows and you see cast members, you’re always like, especially as an actor, curious to see what it’s like behind the scenes. It could be very different from set to set. It can be very different from cast to cast. The chemistry that you see on screen with this cast is how we are behind the scenes.

That’s really what informs the relationships that we have and the comfort that we have with each other to then go to places where, like me and Thomas, we’re fighting. I remember having moments when we were like, “God, you’re so sweet. I don’t want to fight with you.” But then it’s like, “We know it’s happening. Let’s put on a show. Let’s do what we do.” I think it translated really well. You do have to have good chemistry with your cast members to then be able to fight with them and have those very tense moments on screen. It really, really helps because there’s a comfort level there where you know you can push it far.

PC: Reese is very much a free spirit who brings a lot of levity, fun, and drama to this series. How fun is it for you as an actor to get to play in all those different spaces? Has anything the writers thrown at Reese surprised you?
Ryan: Definitely. When I first tapped into this character for the first audition, I felt like he had quite an emotional side. He had quite an empathetic side about him for other people and things like that. Like you said, there’s a levity to him. He’s there to have a good time and all of that stuff, which I feel like I really tapped into.

The writers tapped into more of that in Season 2. Although he might cause some drama, he’s the one that’s like the least involved in drama most of the time. He’s very much like, “Let’s have a good time.” That was very surprising.

It’s also very refreshing as an actor because I feel like I’m very much like that on a day-to-day basis. I like to have a good time. I like to be present. I like to make the most of things. To be able to do that for a character on camera is very refreshing and fun.

There are roles that I’ve done that require you to dive deep into an emotional moment or a very difficult time in a character’s life, and I enjoy that a lot. That’s the kind of work that I really want to do, so then it’s very cool to be able to balance it with someone like Reese who’s comfortable and doing the best he can. [laughs]

PC: One of the major themes in this series is the concept of chosen family and how these characters take care of one another. Having been a part of this series and this family for two seasons now, has there been a moment when one of your costars has shown up for you in a similar way?
Ryan: So many. For example, Sydney [Kuhne], who is one of the new additions this season as well, and plays Steph, we both really bonded over being the new crew members on this show. We always relied on each other in moments and navigated those dynamics, even as easy as everyone else made it.

Also ahead of Season 2, Natasha [Calis], when she saw Reese’s name in the script, she sent me a message and was so excited that we were going to get to work together because we didn’t really get to very much in Season 1. Things like that make you feel like you’re not a burden.

Rather, it’s like they’re just as excited as you are, and they’re thrilled about how much of a career milestone it is for me to have such a big part on the show. That’s something that gave me a lot of confidence heading into the series, so then we could focus on the work and putting on a really good show. Again, I think it adds to how beloved the show is because of all of that.

PC: This is also the longest that you’ve lived with a character. What’s been the most surprising part about this experience? What’s been the biggest takeaway thus far?
Ryan: Maybe it’s how much I care about Reese? We’re post Season 2 now, so it’s been a minute. We finished filming around June last year, and there’s still a lot of essence. If I’m not having a good day or whatever it is, I channel that levity that Reese has, and it makes me feel better, which is really cool.

Once you’ve stayed with a character for a long time, you know the things that you can turn on or tap into to be that character again. It’s a two-way street where you’re like, “I can also take that and learn.” That’s happened a couple of times with the characters that I’ve played. But Reese is a fun one to be able to do that for a long time.

PC: We’re also living in such an exciting time in this industry where we’re getting to see more diverse faces on screen, and their identity and sexual orientation are part of who they are, but not the sole focus of their character’s narrative. You’ve said in the past that roles for Middle Eastern actors were so rare. What does this moment mean to you? How do you hope these doors continue to be open for future generations?
Ryan: This is exactly what I’ve been wanting to see. It’s a testament to my trajectory in this industry, but also to the things that I envisioned being able to do that are now starting to materialize, especially this early on in my career. I can only imagine the sorts of things that I dream to do one day.

Reese was a character in the breakdown, before being cast, was open ethnicity. They were looking to see who could fit that personality in the character and that dynamic on the show. Then I’m cast on it. Once they realized I was Syrian, they tapped into that, which is so special.

I remember having that conversation with our showrunner Julie [Puckrin] at the very beginning of Season 2. She was like, “Welcome aboard. This is what we have planned for your character.” We talked about him being Syrian, and it was a very productive and exciting conversation. Growing up, I never saw any Syrian characters on TV.

In Canadian television, there are only two Syrian characters on television. I’m one of them. It’s things like that that make me excited. As you said, it’s not the sole storyline of the character. It was just brought up in a conversation that this character was having with Tristan. It came up like, “Where are you from? How was your upbringing?” I get to talk about that on the show, and that’s very special because those are conversations that I’ve actually had in my own life.

PC: Continue blazing that trail. The end of Season 2 leaves the door open for more stories to be told. If we’re lucky enough to get a third season, is there an aspect of Reese that you’d love to continue to delve further into or a relationship that you’d like to see further developed?
Ryan: We would all love to delve more into these characters. It was left very open-ended. A lot of people saw, even between Season 1 and 2, there were a lot of unexpected developments. Things could go in any direction for Reese. Maybe he can become a better pilot. [laughs] In Season 2, he’s taking off and slides on the ice. It’s very fun to do those scenes, but I’d love to delve more into his passion for flying. I feel like many pilots I know in my life are very passionate about it. You can see that with many of the different characters on the show. I think it’d be interesting to explore what got Reese into flying and what excites him about it. But also, perhaps some more drama. [laughs]

PC: You also have a feature film making its way around the festival circuit, and it’s your first lead role in a feature film. Congratulations, by the way. What can you tell us about Queen Tut? What was it about this script and character that resonated with you?
Ryan: I had just moved to Toronto and was called upon to do a table read because I speak Arabic. It was the first table read for this film. It must have been in 2018, I want to say. I really liked the script, even back then. Then I continued on my journey, as did they. Cut to four years later, I’m the lead of the film. It stayed with me for a very long time, which was really cool to then reconnect with it.

Queen Tut is the story of a young Egyptian man who moves to Toronto from Cairo after his mother passes away. He moves there to live with his dad. There he discovers the queer nightlife and the drag scene in Toronto. It opens up a whole new world for him.

One of the most exciting things about this project was the duality of the character being Arab and queer, and where those two worlds fit in his life and are they able to coexist, which is a story a lot of immigrants can relate to. Many people who didn’t grow up in North America, and many queer people in general, can relate to that story. How do I allow these two lives to be in the same world and not have to separate them? Queen Tut taps into a lot of that.

People will start having more access to the film later this year, which is exciting because it’s traveled to quite a few festivals, but it’s still limited to where people can watch it. We’re looking at a theatrical run at the moment with certain cities, and that’s very exciting. We’re all excited to see it because everyone on the team put so much into the movie.

In terms of the types of work that I want to do, that was my dive into that. I can take on a complex and difficult character and be able to navigate it through and make a story out of it. That was so beautiful. I’m excited for people to see it.

PC: You’ve been able to jump between mediums so seamlessly. In television, you’re learning more about your character as the series goes on. But in film, you know where your character starts and ends. How different are those filming experiences from a creative standpoint and in your character development process?
Ryan: That’s such a good question because I feel like it’s something that you don’t think of when you first start acting and how different they are. When you’re working on a feature film, sometimes even before the first audition, you get the full script and the whole story. This is where it starts, this is where it ends, and this is what my character wants.

Within television, we usually get it in doses. For SkyMed, it was usually two or three scripts at a time, so you’re really following the journey almost the same way that an audience would. When you’re watching the show, you don’t know where it’s headed. I enjoy both.

An actor’s role is to fill in those blank spaces and questions that you might not have the answer for. That’s really what we do as actors. I think this is where this character came from. I think this is where they’re headed. In a way, television does play out like how we go through life. We don’t really know. We have a direction that we’d like to go. We have intention, but then life throws curveballs at you, and you have to adapt. I feel in a lot of ways television is similar to life because with this information, this is what this character wants to do. Then suddenly this thing happens and you’re like, “All right. I’m going to sway a bit, but it doesn’t entirely change who that person is at their core.”

PC: You’re such an exciting voice in the industry. As you look ahead, is there a dream role that you’d like to bring to life? You’ve also mentioned in previous interviews that you briefly mentioned to your family that you wanted to pursue acting. What has their reaction been like seeing all your success?
Ryan: I’m loving your questions, by the way. They’re so good. My parents have had quite a journey with this whole thing. As immigrants, as parents of children who are first-generation Arabic, there’s a lot of fear involved. You know how to safely plan with what you’re given. For them, having an engineering degree felt like a safe bet and protection from this world that we live in. Slowly, when I left engineering, I was able to show them what I’m excited about and the things that I want to do.

So pretty early on, they started seeing the structure of this career that I’m building for myself. They’ve been rooting for me ever since. I feel like these last few wins from Queen Tut to SkyMed, they feel the reward as much as I do. It’s really, really special.

Yet another thing of why I’m so excited about having this career is a lot of Middle Eastern talent, a lot of Arab talent is so untapped because of that fear, because of parents being like, “There’s no real sustainability or anything like that.” Then to have someone in our community to be able to show that there is a way to do it and show excitement around it and show success within it, is really important.

As far as a dream role, I want to do everything. But I’ve been toying with the idea of a spy-action thriller. That would be really fun. I usually lean towards drama more than I lean towards comedy, but I’d also very much like to do some comedic films and be able to show that levity that I show in Reese. Maybe in a rom-com or a feature that’s more comedic. But there’s a lot coming up, so I’m excited to show you all what I can do.

To keep up with Ryan, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Watch SkyMed on Paramount+ today.