It’s been one year since I first sat down to chat – virtually, obvs – with Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, just after the release of Netflix’s chart-topping Original series (and Maitreyi’s first foray on the small screen), Never Have I Ever. And now, 12 months on, we both log onto Zoom, sat in exactly the same spots as before – her at her parents’ house in Canada, me at my dining table at home in Dubai. It’s almost like nothing has changed, but, of course, it has, because along the way, Maitreyi has become another level of famous.
Since we last spoke, 40 million households tuned in to watch season one of Never Have I Ever; Maitreyi was anointed one of Time’s 100 People of the Year; and no less an eminence than Michelle Obama recruited the Tamil-Canadian actress to join her for an inspiring online event centred on how to empower adolescent girls through education.
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“It was so cool!” recounts Maitreyi. Michelle Obama’s team reached out to my team. I was like, ‘wicked, that’s awesome and totally epic.’ They wanted me to do a segment for Popsugar’s Girl Talk about ways to own your uniqueness. I thought the topic was amazing, especially in a world of social media where we’re constantly being shown photos of other people to compare ourselves to. It’s super important to love who you are and own yourself. I’d really hate for my younger female followers to feel like they need to look like someone else, and that’s why I preach self-love.”
It’s easy to forget that Maitreyi is just 19 years old. Her confidence is palpable, her conversation both bantering and thought-provoking. Over the last year, we’ve watched her find her voice and use it, unapologetically, to speak about the matters she feels are important. “My parents brought me up to always stand up for what I believe in, be aware and do your research. Be a voice and speak out about injustices,” she says.
Maitreyi’s activism doesn’t begin and end with Michelle Obama, though. When she was still in school, the actor led a student walk out with over 400 kids to protest the cuts to the arts in public education. “I posted about the protest on Instagram and I remember my friends were like ‘are you going to take that down because it’s a little scandalous?’. But I purposely kept it up because this is just who I am. If I see something wrong I’m going to call it out.”
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And as India continues to battle with the nation’s worst Covid-19 crisis, Maitreyi used her platform to raise $120,000 (Dhs440k) to help the communities who had been struck down by the disease. “When I created the Never Have I Ever fundraiser for India, I didn’t get nearly as much traction on donation posts as I did on the posts of me posing in a full face of make-up and a nice top.
In fact, I usually lose followers when I post about charity work,” she titters. “I’m like, dude, you’ve just got to laugh when there is a world crisis going on and people are actually unfollowing you for posting about it. But I don’t really care too much about social media. I realised early on that it isn’t going to make be happy, so I don’t engage too much with how many likes or followers I have. I’m just grateful that there is a community that wants to see me as me. I’m also very grateful for the small group of friends in person that I have who still, for some reason, hang out with me.”
Cananda, where Maitreyi resides, is still in a full lockdown. This means no red carpets, no fan meet-and-greets, and no wrap parties. So, if not social media followers, what is a young actor’s barometer of success during peak Covid?
“I was thinking about this. I don’t know how successful I have gotten. My day to day life is pretty similar. Online is a different world. It’s a complete 180; I have all these followers, all these views – and people want to put me on magazine covers!” she laughs. “But it also doesn’t feel real, because I have never actually seen my face on newsstands or in stores, because of lockdown, which is pretty conducive to impostor syndrome. Even the show is Covid famous!”
I get it. While still living in the safety of social distancing, plus the added anonymity of a mask when venturing into the outside world, Maitreyi is yet to manage all of the intricacies of fame. But again: 40 million households. And the impact of that number isn’t lost on the 19-year-old actor, even if it’s all a bit hard to comprehend while in lockdown.
Her career trajectory is, thus far, unprecedented on every level: the smart choices, the box-office clout, the near-universal lovability. But a great aid to her acting ascension has been Mindy Kaling, who is also a first-generation Indian-American, and picked Maitreyi’s audition out of the 15,000 others who tried out for Never Have I Ever’s leading lady.
“Mindy is amazing. I don’t know how she manages to do so many things at once. I think she’s got clones or something,” jokes Maitreyi who has already absorbed some of Kaling’s cadences.
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It’s little wonder why the duo has hit it off so well. They’re both startlingly quick-witted and whip smart, but they’re also both on an undisputed mission to increase diversity and put South Asian actresses on the big screen. From The Mindy Project to NBC’s Champions, Mindy’s work has powerfully referenced the underserved Indian-American experience, which is what she has brought to the younger generation through Never Have I Ever.
It was the lockdown gift we never knew we needed, and might even have snubbed if we’d had been offered it in advance: a coming-of-age dramady about a first-generation Indian-American teen growing up in Southern California, navigating her high school years in, which are full of pitch-perfect teen angst.
But it was Maitreyi’s Devi Vishwakumar – partly based on Kaling – who is wonderfully different to all the slightly geeky, stereotypical characters we see in high school comedies, which made a perfect foil to the show’s more serious themes of diversity, inclusivity, religion, friendship, grief and mental health.
Streaming now on a Netflix near you is Never Have I Ever season two, which Maitreyi says is even more progressive than the first. “There’s a really interesting focus on Devi’s friendship with Fabiola and Eleanor. So often in high school series, female friendships are played out on screen as quite catty and drama-fueled. We don’t often tell the stories of women supporting women.”
“Devi is also definitely a little less uncomfortable with her culture in this season. It’s so relatable for those who don’t see themselves on screen. We’re starting to normalize being an Indian family. There are no character plots or storylines written because someone is Indian, we’re literally just Indian. It’s cool.”
Maitreyi’s outwardly caricature-like rhetoric, where I am referred to as ‘dude’ approximately a gazillion times throughout our conversation, is endearing and excitable. Online and in real life, she, gives the simultaneous impression of being someone who is enjoying the fruits of unimaginable success but is somehow also your totally relatable best friend. This creates another pleasing bit of symmetry with Never Have I Ever. “The biggest element of Devi’s personality that I brought to her character is the sarcasm. She’s very sassy and always has a quick witted response to everything, which is just like me. And all her on-screen mannerisms are all me. Nobody’s telling me to do that.”
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Naturally, for a teenager who’s suddenly found the world at her fingertips, Maitreyi is fully embracing this new, exhilarating stage of her life. She is set to star in a contemporary ‘Pride and Prejudice‘ adaptation, The Netherfield Girls, and has big plans to one day own her own production company.
“I definitely want to work on a thriller one day. That would probably be my 10-year goal. I’d also love to try my hand at movies or cartoon and animation, and get involved in the writers’ room. But at the moment, she’s exactly where she wants to be. “For now I want to continue being part of big projects, because I wake up every day thinking ‘I have a pretty cool job’.”
Words by Milli Midwood @millimidwood
Styling by Joyce Gereige @joycegereige
Photography by Alexandra Votsis @alexandravotsis
Photographer Assistant: Kaitie Lindner @kaitiesclicks
Makeup & Hair by Nate @beautybynate
Producer: @jvd94