Meet Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, star of Mindy Kaling’s Netflix series Never Have I Ever
She’s the first Tamil-Canadian to star in a major Hollywood series, didn’t even have a headshot and is a creative spirit, but what else is there to know?
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, the lead character in Mindy Kaling’s coming-of-age Netflix comedy drama, Never Have I Ever, plays a “modern-day first-generation Indian-American girl” named Devi. She’s an overachieving high school sophomore at Sherman Oaks High in San Fernando Valley. As she copes with the death of her father, Devi is determined to have a typical and sexy high school experience.
Never Have I Ever was inspired by Kaling’s childhood experience in suburban Massachusetts. Get to know 18-year-old Maitreyi, how she landed the role and impressed Kaling and why she’s primed for success:
She bested 15,000 hopefuls
When Kaling announced on Instagram that she was looking for someone to portray a character loosely based on her and co-writer Lang Fisher, 15,000 auditions poured in.
Maitreyi’s audition tape stood out despite the fact she didn’t have a proper headshot and had very little acting experience. She received a callback from Kaling’s team, and after two auditions in Los Angeles, Maitreyi snagged the role.
Maitreyi even asked Kaling why she picked her. “Mindy said: ‘You’re cool, we love your sassiness, we want you to make it you.’”
She has strong ties with her culture and heritage
In an interview with Now Magazine, a Canadian publication, Maitreyi made sure that her ethnicity and nationality – Tamil-Canadian – was correct in the Netflix announcement. “My identity isn’t Sri Lankan,” she says. “That’s not my country. My country is Canada. But my culture is definitely Tamil.”