The Mindy Kaling-produced Netflix series Never Have I Ever follows Devi Wishwakumar, an Indian-American teen who isn’t too hot on wearing sarees or showing off her heritage. She’s played by Tamil-Canadian actor Maitreyi Ramakrishnan who, when we last interviewed her, said getting cast in the show was the opportunity to embrace her culture.
Ramakrishnan’s character Devi balks at girls performing a traditional dance at Ganesh pooja and resents her immigrant cousin for being too Indian. She internalizes racism, a symptom we once broached with fellow South Asian star Kumail Nanjiani.
“I felt that way too,” says Ramakrishnan, who spoke to NOW recently about those occasions where she felt she was neither Tamil enough nor Canadian enough.
Ramakrishnan also talked about Bharatanatyam (a classical Indian dance), dealing with the Stephanies and Karens in the world, depicting sex and swearing despite the pressure to be an angel in conservative cultures and the pressures the TikTok generation will face.
Watch both conversations in the videos below. Never Have I Ever premieres on Netflix Canada on April 27.
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan on otherness and internalized racism
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan on navigating sex, swearing and conservative culture
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