Who Plays Devi On 'Never Have I Ever?' Meet Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Star Of Mindy Kaling's New Netflix Show
Everything fans need to know about the star of 'Never Have I Ever'
Getty Earlier this week, Mindy Kaling's new Netflix series, Never Have I Ever, dropped, introducing us to Devi Vishwakumar, an Indian-American teenager trying to make her way through high school.
Quickly, the series has become a hit with fans, thanks to the cast — and especially the actress who plays Devi, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan.
Who plays Devi on Never Have I Ever?
Here's what you need to know about the 18-year-old who's already gaining so many fans.
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Playing Devi in Never Have I Ever is her first on-screen role.
Though Ramakrishnan has some experiencing acting in local theater, her very first role on screen is in Never Have I Ever, and already, it seems like it's given her the chance to become this year's breakout star. The show has already amassed tons of fans in a matter of days, and it's just getting started.
She responded to an open casting call from Mindy Kaling herself.
Last year, Kaling put out a call on social media, looking for actresses to take on the role of Devi. Over 15,000 girls auditioned and after Ramakrishnan sent in the audition tape that she made herself, she was asked to come to LA for a screen test, and the rest was history.
Kaling is impressed by Ramakrishnan's talent.
In a interview, Kaling said that casting Ramakrishnan was "a no-brainer."
“She’s so comfortable in her own skin, and she just strikes you as not timid at all,” she said. “You learn so much in casting. The kind of chitchat you make with the actors before you start rolling is almost more informative than the audition itself. And she’s a big fan of The Office, and the way she was talking to us was not like a scared, deferential foreign teenager. She was talking to us like another fan of TV, who happened to be 18 years younger than us. It was kind of a no-brainer.”
But who is Maitreyi Ramakrishnan? She is, for the most part, a totally normal teen.
Since this is Ramakrishnan's first big acting gig, it makes sense that before this, she was living a totally normal life. She plans to study acting at New York University (which she's deferred for the time being) and according to her Instagram account, she spends most of her time hanging out with friends and her dog, like anyone else her age.
She started acting in high school.
In a recent Interview, Ramakrishnan said that she's been acting since her 10th grade production of Footloose, and the rest is history.
“I didn’t take drama as a class even. Literally, it was not on my radar. The drama teacher just needed more people. We’re a pretty small school. I did it and I loved it," she said. "I always knew I was going to do something in the arts. In high school, as soon as I could drop my sciences, I dropped them so fast. I was like, ‘Goodbye, bio. See you later, chem. Never liked you, physics.’ What I realized is, I would spend hours and hours on rehearsals after school. By the end of high school, I knew acting was the way.”
She's been a Kaling fan since The Office.
In another Interview, Ramakrishnan shared that her admiration for Kaling goes way back to her days on The Office.
“I remember when Mindy was on TV as Kelly Kapoor. That was the first time I ever saw her, but I really became a fan of her when I found out that she wrote so many of the episodes and jokes,” she said. “I thought that was so cool to see somebody that has the same skin color and background as me.”