"Breaking Fast": Gay Muslim gets dumped, finds a new boyfriend, shows his d*ck. But are any of the actors actually gay and Muslim?

 

Link to the n*de photos

In the short Breaking Fast (2015), it's Eid-al-Fitr, the last night of Ramadan, and Mo (Ryan Shrime) runs into Cal (probably gay bodybuilder Tom Berklund).  They discuss the suicide of Cal's boyfriend.  

That's all I can gather from Tom Berklund's demo reel: the movie is not available to stream, and the trailer is stuck behind paywalls and Trojan-infested websites.  But a review says that Mo is a gorgeous Superman-obsessed doctor dealing with tragedy (because all short films are about dealing with tragedy, right?), and the guys fall in love.

We don't have a lot of actors who are gay, out, and Muslim, so I thought I would check Ryan Shrime out.

Ryan's  Instagram starts off with three photo dumps of Christmas decorations. Dude is Christian

Then he visits Portugal and Israel with his travel buddy, a miniature Jesus.  Dude is Christian and wacko.

Next there are about 3,000 photos hugging and kissing ladies and playing with kids.  Dude is straight.

Why are you playing a gay Muslim, buddy?  Are you the only Arab-American actor willing to do it?  

Sigh.  Let's check for gay roles and nude photos anyway.  

Ryan got his degree from Harvard, then studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.  

Theatrical credits: Macbeth, King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, The Engine of Our Ruin, The Ants

Nothing overtly gay themed there.

He founded the Middle Eastern Comedy Festival and the New York Arab American Comedy Festival

61 acting credits on the IMDB: The Mindy Project, Sam & Kat, Revenge, Grey's Anatomy, Madame Secretary, On My Block, and a lot that I don't recognize.  He complains on Threads that casting agents constantly tell him, "You're so great! I'm just looking for the right role for you," then offer yet another terrorist role.

He is known for playing:

Lance Chambers on a 2015 episode of Gray's Anatomy: Meredith returns to Seattle to announce Derek's death (Patrick Dempsey) and gives birth; Amelia deals with her grief; April decides to stay in a war-torn country, upsetting Jackson (Jesse Williams); Ben and Bailey argue over an end-of-life decision. Oh, and Richard proposes to Catherine.  Lance is not mentioned in the plot synopses.  Would there even be room for him?

Ramjin Azizi on a 2017 episode of Madame Secretary, starring Tea Leoni as the Secretary of State: Blake comes out as bisexual, Stevie (a boy) misses a meeting with the Harvard Dean of Admissions when Jason gets sick, and Henry goes to Israel to retrieve the bio weapon, but ISIS agents steal it. Ramjin isn't mentioned in any of the plot synopses, but I'm guessing that he's not a terrorist.

Ryan is also known as the producer of Woe (2020): A brother and sister stumble upon their father's secret after his death. A review says that it's impenetrably art-noveau.  Well, the guy graduated from Harvard.  What do you expect?

At least he shows his d*ck (on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends).  Or is that misleading, too?

In 2020, writer/director Mike Mosallam released a feature-length Breaking Fast, with the parts recast.  It's not available to stream, either, but a review gives us a few more details:  Mo (Haaz Sleiman) got dumped by his boyfriend (Patrick Sabongui) on the first night of Ramadan, and is now emotionally closed off.  Until he meets Cal (Michael Cassidy), who is grieving over his dead boyfriend.  The two bond during the three nights of Eid al-Fitr.

Any actual gay Muslim guys here?

More after the break

Said Taghmaoui: Who Says You Can't Be Gay and Muslim?

I never heard of Saïd Taghmaoui until I saw him in the deplorable remake of Conan the Barbarian (2011), and decided to google him.

This picture, the first thing that came up, is stunning enough for a blog post on its own.

But there's more.

Said was born in France to Moroccan parents, and became a professional boxer before he shifted to acting.  He has appeared in many French, German, and Moroccan films.  In the United States, he has appeared in Three Kings and G.I. Joe, plus the tv series Sleeper Cell, Secrets, Lost, Touch, and The Missing.

But there's more.

National 7 (2000) is set in a home for handicapped people, where Rene (Olivier Gourmet) wants to have sex.  Meanwhile, a gay Arab orphan, Rabah (Said), wants to convert to Catholicism.

In Room to Rent (2000), Ali (Said) has a succession of crazy roommates, including Rupert Graves as a gay photographer.

My Brother the Devil (2012) stars James Floyd and Fady Elsayed as Rashid and Mo, brothers who belong to a British Arab street gang.  Rashid recognizes that he is gay, and begins a relationship with photographer and former gang member Sayyid (Said).  Probably the first gay romance set among British Arab gang members.  

The actor is heterosexual in real life, but a gay ally.  And, yes, he believes that you can be gay and a good Muslim.

See also: Farshad: A Gay Muslim Surprise in Brittany