Who Plays Devi's Mom On 'Never Have I Ever'? Meet Poorna Jagannathan, Star Of Mindy Kaling's New Netflix Show
Everything to know about the actress who plays Devi's mom.
Getty If you haven't been watching Mindy Kaling's new Netflix show, Never Have I Ever, what are you waiting for? The coming of age series already has a loyal fanbase just days after it hit the streaming service, in large part because of the show's cast.
Never Have I Ever is about a teenager figuring out high school with her friends and family by her side, including her mom, Nalini.
Who plays Devi's mom in Never Have I Ever?
Here's what you need to know about Poorna Jagannathan.
Fans will recognize Jagannathan from her other roles.
Aside from Never Have I Ever, Jagannathan has a few other roles under her belt — some in shows that we're all pretty familiar with. She played Katie Richmond in Big Little Lies, and Dr. Maureen Bruckner in Better Caul Saul. She also played a doctor in The Act, the Hulu miniseries about Gypsy Rose Blanchard.
She's super-psyched about the new show.
Anyone who follows Jagannathan on Twitter already knows that she's been tweeting nonstop about her new gig, and she seems really excited to be a part of Never Have I Ever. She's also been sharing behind the scenes cast photos on her Instagram account, and seems proud to be part of this project.
She is married and has a child.
Jagannathan has been married to Azad Ooommen since 2013, and together, they have a son, who's pretty private online but does have an Instagram account. She often posts about him on her Instagram, too, including sharing this soccer photo, where it's easy to see how much he looks like his mom.
She's been teased about her name since she was a kid.
In a 2019 interview, Jagannathan opened up about how she was teased about her unusual name during her childhood, but has learned to embrace it as an adult.
"I was called 'porn' from a very young age. I didn't even know what a porn was at that point," she admitted. "But you know, that's kind of been my nickname for years and years and years. And my Instagram handle is @poornography_. So I've just taken it on — there's no two ways about it."
She's very selective about the roles she takes, even the small ones.
No matter what Jagannathan does, she wants to make sure that whatever role she's doing is important, big or small, and gravitates toward scripts with good writing, which is why it makes so much sense that she's landed on Never Have I Ever.
"I'm very, very drawn to great writing, first and foremost. And then, whether the story moves me," she said. "Even though I may have a very small part in the story, whether it fundamentally moves me — whether I think it'll move the needle when it's put out in the world."
She started out in her career by doing theater.
Before Jagannathan's TV roles, she was doing theater in New York while also working in advertising during the day, and finally, she booked her first TV role and the rest is history.
"My first TV audition was for Law & Order — it was one of their first big parts for a South Asian woman and I booked it," she said. "After your first gig, things become a little easier. Acting is a game of snakes and ladders and if you’re a woman of color, let’s just say there are a whole lot more snakes in the game. There’s a lot of stereotyping, there’s such a limited number of roles available to ethnic actors, which is why Priyanka Chopra’s leading role in Quantico is actually such a big deal."
Nicole Pomarico is an entertainment and lifestyle writer whose work has appeared in Cosmo, Us Weekly, Refinery29, and more.