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Entertainment Spotlight: Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Never Have I Ever

A newcomer to the entertainment industry, Maitreyi makes her television debut in Mindy Kaling’s new series, Never Have I Ever. She plays Davey, an awkward, intelligent, and endearing teenager coming into her own and embracing herself and her culture in the process. We got the chance to chat with Maitreyi about her experience on the show. Check it out:

Since the show is called Never Have I Ever, can you tell us about a first that you experienced while filming?

The whole thing. The whole thing was a first. And it absolutely blew my mind, I had the best time!

This show incorporates so much about current pop culture and trends, and does it so accurately. Did you have any say or advise on this in any way?

Yeah, definitely. Lang Fischer and Mindy Kaling both really wanted us to bring ourselves into the role and keep it cool and actually relatable. So yeah, we definitely did have, all of the cast had a lot of say.

How did you get your role on the show?

Got my job off of social media (thank you Twitter)! Mindy Kaling put out an opening cast call for me.

Did you pull from any personal experiences of growing up in your role? For example, something embarrassing that happened to you in school?

Definitely! All of like Davey’s high school drama and everything she went through there was something that I pulled from when I was her age. So: Yes!

How much room for improvisation was there? Any improvised movements make the final cut?

There was a LOT of improv. We got to do a lot of goofing around, extra ad-lib lines at the end and just even our physical comedy was really fun to do.

What’s a class that you think should be taught in all high schools that generally isn’t?

A class that should be taught should be something to do with, like, ice cream, like ice cream making. That’s so slept on, you know? We should make ice cream. Or, no, a fun class! I want a fun class. How to take a good nap. How to Power nap. Actually, that’s my answer, I want a power nap class!

Thanks for taking the time, Maitreyi! Never Have I Ever is now streaming on Netflix. 

You gonna break my heart, Covey?