Never has Maitreyi Ramakrishnan ever had a supporter like Mindy Kaling.
The Never Have I Ever star, 21, tells outlet she considers the show’s creator “a mentor for life.”
“I love Mindy. She’s the coolest,” Ramakrishnan says. “I’m so grateful for her for so many reasons. I think one of the biggest things I’ve learned from her is that, as women of color, people will continue to underestimate you. People will not value you. They’re not going to see the absolute diamond that you are.”
Ramakrishnan knows she shouldn’t give into that mindset.
“You can’t think the way that they do,” she says. “As long as you see your value, walk in there and absolutely sparkle — sparkle and shine and prove all of them wrong.”
Ramakrishnan says that while watching Kaling, 43, she learned “the harsh truth” that women of color “have to run 10 times faster.”
But Ramakrishnan wants to put in the work.
“I suck at running. I am woefully unfit,” the Netflix star admits. “But you know what? As someone who has been so unfit, I’m like, ‘I’m going to work hard.’ And now I go to the gym. I’m going to go take vocal lessons. I’m going to go take dancing lessons. I’m going to go do all of these things and make myself absolutely amazing.”
She credits Kaling for inspiring that mentality. “I admire Mindy so freaking much. Seriously,” Ramakrishnan says. “She’s kind of stuck with me, but I don’t think she minds.”
At the season 4 premiere of Never Have I Ever in Los Angeles last week, Ramakrishnan shared how she felt about the show coming to an end.
“Devi’s, like, dead now,” Ramakrishnan told outlet. “She’s in the realm of finished shows, just like Michael Scott [from ] and Eleanor and Chidi from The Good Place — they’re all dead.”
Still, Ramakrishnan, said she felt “great” because “I’m just so overwhelmed with gratitude.”
“I used to feel more bittersweet about it, but we’ve had some time to process, like months, and I feel really good about it right now,” she continued. “I feel very proud and just truly blessed.”
Never Have I Ever season 4 is streaming now on Netflix.
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