Q&a / Meet Rushi Kota, the heartthrob of Netflix’s Never Have I Ever, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and Nickelodeon’s iCarly: ‘finally I don’t have to play my skin colour’
- Before he was Kamala’s love interest, Kota once contemplated a career in Formula One racing and even studied automotive engineering before switching gears to pursue acting
- Kota talked to STYLE about breaking Hollywood’s ethnic stereotypes, his formative roles in Phobias and Useless Humans – and his last-minute lockdown wedding to wife Reeshelle
Rushi Kota stars as Prashant in Never Have I Ever, the smash hit Netflix series created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher. On one hand, the show is a lighthearted and often hilarious coming of age drama, but on the other, it has been praised for its representation for Asian Americans.
Kota sat down with STYLE for an exclusive interview to discuss race representation, his sudden shift from studying automotive engineering to a career on the screen, why the internet blew up over his role as Kamala’s love interest – and his lucky lockdown wedding to real-life wife Reeshelle.
It’s really nice because I finally don’t have to play my skin colour
Since the release of Never Have I Ever’s first season, what has the reception from the fans been like?
It’s been incredible, I don’t think anyone expected this show to make as many moves as it has. I only show up in one episode in season 1 and luckily I’ve received such exciting, amazing news. I think within the first week of my entrance in the show it was made into a meme, so that was pretty exciting.
Never Have I Ever is comedic but also includes a lot of serious conversations around race and it’s even been described as a watershed moment for South Asian representation. How do you find the balance between these two aspects in the show when you’re playing Prashant?
On one aspect of things, I’m so happy that this show is globally visible to so many people. Layering on top of that, there’s also a responsibility of showing Hollywood that not only South Asians but all people of colour have been marginalised for so long. To be able to paint this new picture of who they are without a whole caricature or stereotype put on them, that’s been pretty revelatory for me as an actor and for the audience to see that as well.
You are best known for your work as Dr Vikram Roy on Grey’s Anatomy and Grey’s Anatomy: B-Team. How does it feel to be part of a franchise that so many people grown to love over the years?
Grey’s Anatomy was my first big job, it was really exciting to be able to play Vik Roy for about a year and a half. When we started shooting Grey’s Anatomy: B-Team that was really cool, because those were just micro-episodes that just showcased the interns.
It was really fun to be Vik before he started being a narcissistic doctor, and I don’t think anyone expected Grey’s Anatomy: B-Team to be nominated for an Emmy, but it did and that was like the icing on the cake.