If you have watched the American-Indian coming of age series, Never Have I Everyou’d know that Devi along with her struggles and experiences was a very relatable character to desis all across the globe.
If you’re someone who’s smitten by Devi’s persona and can’t help but wonder if the talented Maitreyi Ramakrishnan a.k.a Devi is anything like the character she plays IRL, here’s everything you need to know about her:
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan isn’t actually a first-generation Indian-Canadian, she comes from a Tamil Sri Lankan descent.
Born and raised in Mississauga, Ontario, this 18-year-old was nurtured by refugee parents who moved to Canada after the civil war in Sri Lanka. Ramakrishnan identifies as a Tamil-Canadian instead of a Sri Lankan because of the war.
Maitreyi hustled through a total of 15,000 candidates who applied for an open casting call before Mindy Kaling handpicked her for Devi’s role.
The then 17-yo Maitreyi recorded her audition tape at a local library with her mom as the cameraperson. She was then asked to send a couple more videos before heading to Los Angeles for a screen test.
Even though the very talented Maitreyi had the acting bug and was cast in various school plays, Never Have I Ever was her first shot at pursuing a professional acting career
Maitreyi was all set to go to Toronto’s York University for a theatre program right after completing her high school but deferred her acceptance to film her big break, Never Have I Ever.
Just like most of us, Maiteyi is a die-hard fan of The Office and claims that meeting Mindy Kaling was like seeing Kelly Kapoor in flesh and blood.
She is also a rebel for a cause and actively advocates public education and the right to education. In fact, her Instagram bio: “Respect existence or expect resistance.” speaks for her fierceness.
When she’s not juggling between her two cultures, highschool or her fandom, Maitreyi loves to take her bike out for a spin.
Maitreyi is also a part-time gamer and loves to play Nintendo and Animal Crossing: New Horizons but her go-to game is Super Smash Bros.
Maitreyi only understands Tamil but can’t fluently speak the language. Even though she tried really hard to pick up the language in school, she claims that it didn’t work out very well for her.
With an aim to take up space in Hollywood and represent the South-Asian community to the fullest with her roles, Maitreyi’s goal is to find relatable content for her community.
In 2019, Maitreyi was named as one of the eighteen “Groundbreakers” by Today for working towards shattering the barriers and changing the world.
Honestly, we cannot wait to see what this badass, amazeball hustler is onto next!