“My name is Maysoon Zayid and I am not drunk – but the doctor who delivered me was.” With that opening line, stand-up comic Maysoon Zayid launched her TED Talk. “As a result, I have cerebral palsy, which means I shake all the time,” Zayid continued. “It’s exhausting. I’m like Shakira meets Mohammed Ali.”
The stand-up comedian and disability advocate’s light but frank take on her life’s tougher blows caught the eye of Reese Witherspoon. After seeing Zayid’s comedy, Witherspoon helped the comic produce her memoir, an Audible original titled “Find Another Dream.”
Zayid indeed found another dream in comedy after facing repeated rejection for her first dream: acting. Yet after over 20 years of comedy, she has also at last achieved that dream, landing a role on General Hospital.
How Reese Witherspoon Discovered Maysoon Zayid
For as long as she could remember, Zayid wanted to act. “My dream in life, like most Muslim girls in America, was to be on the daytime soap opera General Hospital,” she laughs. “But whenever I went to auditions, people wouldn’t even consider it.”
After repeated Hollywood rejections, Zayid needed a new route. “When I looked for people who looked like me in entertainment, I saw it in comedy,” she realized.
After almost 20 years of touring across the US as a comedian, Zayid connected with Reese Witherspoon at the Watermark Conference, a women’s gathering in San Jose.
“When I walked off – well, when I limped offstage,” Zayid jokes, “[Witherspoon] said she wanted to work with me – which is what everyone says, and then they never contact me. And she actually did.” Witherspoon’s publishing company Hello Sunshine wanted to publish “Find Another Dream” working with Zayid to record the audiobook.
The book only took Zayid one month to write. “What [the book] means is that if your dream turns into a nightmare, find another dream. It’s never going to come true, so just give up and move on,” she explains.
Don’t Call Maysoon Zayid Inspirational
Zayid rejects the label of being an inspiration. “I dislike when people call me inspirational because when non-disabled people call disabled people inspirational, what they mean is two things: One, I am so happy I’m not you, and the second thing is ‘wow you’re so brave you got out of bed because I just wouldn’t,’” she observes.
Nevertheless, Zayid has faced many obstacles in her life, whether as an aspiring actress, comedian, or simply an individual. “In the oppression Olympics, I’d win a gold medal,” she boasted in her TED Talk. “I’m Palestinian; I’m Muslim; I’m female; I’m disabled. And…” Zayid pauses to emphasize her last great struggle. “I live New Jersey,” she finishes.
The audience breaks out in laughter immediately.
A New Role on General Hospital
Despite hailing from New Jersey, Zayid’s success as a comedian paid off in the realization of her childhood dream. “On May 17, 2019, I got cast on General Hospital,” she revealed with excitement to her fans. “I had dreamt about it for 25 years, and when it finally came true it actually exceeded my expectations.”
Zayid – who also had a role in the film “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” – plays the recurring role of Zahra Amir on the popular daytime soap opera. The lady is a fiesty family court attorney who represents Shiloh, a central figure on the show, in a custody battle for child he believes to be his son.
To hear more of Zayid’s story, listen to her memoir here and watch her character on General Hospital here.
