Maitreyi Ramakrishnan ( ; born 29 December 2001) is a Canadian actress. She rose to prominence for her leading role as high school student Devi Vishwakumar in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

teen comedy series ''

Never Have I Ever "Never have I ever", also known as "I've never.." or "ten fingers", is a drinking game in which players take turns asking other players about things they have not done. Other players who have done this thing respond by taking a drink. A versi ...

'' (2020–2023). She played voice roles in the

Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...

film ''

Turning Red ''Turning Red'' is a 2022 American animated coming-of-age fantasy comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Domee Shi and produced by Lindsey Collins, from a screenplay written by S ...

'' (2022), and the animated series '' My Little Pony: Make Your Mark'' (2022–2023) and '' My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale'' (2022–2024).

Early life

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan was born on 29 December 2001 in

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, where she was raised. She was born to

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, form the plurality in the Eastern Province a ...

parents who immigrated to Canada as

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

s due to the country's

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. She identifies herself as

Tamil Canadian Tamil Canadians, or Canadian Tamils, are Canadians of Tamil ethno-linguistic origin. Much of Canada's Tamil diaspora from India and Sri Lanka then majority consist of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who sought to flee the ethnic tensions during the Sr ...

. She went to Lisgar Middle School for elementary and graduated from Meadowvale Secondary School. Ramakrishnan decided to pursue an acting career in her last year at Meadowvale, and got the role in the Netflix teen comedy-drama series ''

'' less than a year later. She deferred her acceptance to the theatre program at

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, which she had initially planned to attend the fall after she graduated high school, so she could shoot the series in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. In 2021, she deferred her acceptance a second time, while also switching her degree to human rights and equity studies.

Career

2019–2021: Breakthrough with ''Never Have I Ever''

Ramakrishnan made her professional acting debut as Devi Vishwakumar, the protagonist, in the

teen comedy-drama series ''

''. In 2019, she was chosen by

Mindy Kaling Vera Mindy Chokalingam (born June 24, 1979),Additional archive on June 25, 2015. known professionally as Mindy Kaling (), is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Known for her work on television, she has received a Tony Awa ...

out of 15,000 candidates who had applied for an open casting call for the show. Ramakrishnan created her audition tape at a local library, using her mother's camera, eventually being asked to send four more videos, before having a screen test in Los Angeles and being offered the role. Ramakrishnan was 17 at the time of her casting and had not acted professionally. She revealed in an interview that she grew up watching Indian actor Vijay in the Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

-language film ''

Pokkiri ''Pokkiri'' () is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Prabhu Deva and produced by Kanagarathna Movies. It is the Tamil remake of the 2006 Telugu film '' Pokiri'' directed by story writer Puri Jagannadh. The film stars Vijay ...

'', which influenced her to consider an acting career. Her casting received significant media attention, especially in Canada, due to the nature of the open casting call and for her

identity. That year, ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'' named her one of eighteen "Groundbreakers" on the International Day of The Girl, a list of girls who were breaking down barriers and "changing the world". In April 2020, ''

'' premiered on Netflix. Ramakrishnan's character, Devi Vishwakumar, an

Indian-American Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from India. The terms Asian Indian and East Indian are used to avoid confusion with Native Americans in the United States, who are also referred to as "Indians" or "Am ...

high school student, is loosely based on Mindy Kaling. The program ran for four seasons until June 2023. The series and Ramakrishnan's performance received generally positive reviews, with ''Variety'' calling it a "breakout performance". She received nominations for an

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

, a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

, an MTV Movie & TV Award, and two

People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the fans and general public. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls un ...

. In July 2020, Netflix reported the series had been viewed by 40 million households globally since its release. In May, Ramakrishnan participated in the live-read series '' Acting for a Cause'', appearing as Olivia for a live staged reading of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's play ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

'', to help raise money for a local hospital in Chicago, which was struggling to combat the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Later that month, she hosted the livestream segment of the Children's and Youth Programming Category for the

8th Canadian Screen Awards The 8th Canadian Screen Awards were presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television from 25–28 May 2020 to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2019. The presentations were held as a seri ...

. In February 2021, Ramakrishnan was named as Breakout Actor in ''Time'''s Time100 Next list of the next hundred influential people.

2022–present: Transition to film and voice roles

Ramakrishnan voiced Priya Mangal, an Indian-Canadian mellow,

deadpan Deadpan, dry humour, or dry-wit humour is the deliberate display of emotional neutrality or no emotion, commonly as a form of Comedy, comedic delivery to contrast with the ridiculousness or absurdity of the subject matter. The delivery is meant t ...

girl who is one of the protagonist's friends, in the

animated fantasy comedy film ''

''. The film was released on 11 March 2022 to

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

and limited theaters. Ramakrishnan voiced Zipp Storm throughout the content slate for the fifth incarnation of the ''

My Little Pony ''My Little Pony'' (''MLP'') is a toy line and media franchise developed by American toy company Hasbro. The first toys were developed by Bonnie Zacherle, Charles Muenchinger, and Steve D'Aguanno, and were produced in 1981. The ponies feature ...

'' franchise. The first project, the 2D animated short-form web series, '' My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale'', premiered via YouTube in early April. The series was renewed up to 2026, but prematurely concluded in October 2024, with a two-season run. Ramakrishnan also voiced the character for the animated Netflix series, '' My Little Pony: Make Your Mark'', which premiered in September and was preceded by a special of the same name in May. The series ran for six "chapters" until November 2023. Also in April 2022, Ramakrishnan received the honorary Radius Award from the

Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is a Canadian non-profit organization created in 1979 to recognize the achievements of the over 4,000 Canadian cinema of Canada, film industry and television in Canada, television industry professionals ...

at the

10th Canadian Screen Awards The 10th Canadian Screen Awards were presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television from 4–10 April 2022 to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2021. The presentations were held as a ...

, for her global impact on television. In November, she appeared in a Netflix holiday special tied to the ''Make Your Mark'' series, titled ''My Little Pony: Winter Wishday''. It was followed by the third and fourth specials, ''My Little Pony: Bridlewoodstock'' and ''Secrets of Starlight'', in June and November 2023. In October 2023, Ramakrishnan had a guest voice role on the adult animated sitcom '' Big Mouth'' as Marissa, the new love interest and neighbour of the young fictional version of series co-creator Andrew Goldberg. Ramakrishnan made her live-action film debut with a supporting role in the comedy drama '' Slanted'', which premiered on 8 March 2025, at the

2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival The 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival took place from March 7–15 at several venues in Austin, Texas, as part of the larger South by Southwest annual event. The festival opened with the film '' Another Simple Favor'' and the debut of t ...

. She played Brindha, the confident best friend of the protagonist, who undergoes an ethnic modification surgery. ''Slanted'' was met with positive reception and won the jury prize for narrative feature at the festival. '' IndieWire'' described Ramakrishnan's performance as a "scene-stealing turn" while ''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'' called it "amusing"; Jenny Nulf of ''The Austin Chronicle'' wrote that "every time heis in a scene, it stands out". Critics found her to be "not enough in the film", calling her "underused". Ramakrishnan then voiced the female lead Nan-young—an astronaut—opposite Justin H. Min in the English dub of Netflix's Korean animated sci-fi romance film ''Lost In Starlight'', released on 30 May. She will appear in another supporting part in Disney's ''

Freakier Friday ''Freakier Friday'' is an upcoming American fantasy comedy film directed by Nisha Ganatra and written by Jordan Weiss. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, it is a sequel to '' Freaky Friday'' (2003), itself based on Mary Rodgers's 1972 novel, ...

'', led by

Jamie Lee Curtis Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, and children's author. Known for List of Jamie Lee Curtis performances, her performances in the horror and slasher film, slasher genres, she is regarded as a scream qu ...

and

Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Dee Lohan ( ; born July 2, 1986) is an American actress, singer, producer, and businesswoman. Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Lohan was signed to Ford Models at age three. She appeared as a regular on the soap opera ' ...

, the sequel to ''

Freaky Friday ''Freaky Friday'' is a comedic children's novel written by Mary Rodgers, first published by Harper & Row in 1972. The plot is set in a day in the life of 13-year-old Annabel Andrews and her mother, who spend one Friday in each other's bodies. ...

'' (2003). It will be theatrically released on 8 August 2025. In April 2025, Ramakrishnan joined the ensemble voice cast of ''The Angry Birds Movie 3'', slated for release in January 2027. She has also committed to co-lead the Netflix romantic comedy film ''The Netherfield Girls'', a contemporary adaptation of

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

's novel ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is the second published novel (but third to be written) by English author Jane Austen, written when she was age 20-21, and later published in 1813. A novel of manners, it follows the character development of Elizabe ...

''.

Other activities

In March 2022, Ramakrishnan fronted the spring campaign, "Members Always: Future Together", for clothing retailer American Eagle, alongside

Madelyn Cline Madelyn Cline (born December 21, 1997) is an American actress and model. She is best known for her roles in the Netflix teen drama series ''Outer Banks'' (2020–present) and in Rian Johnson's mystery film '' Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery'' ...

, Joshua Bassett, Michael Evans Behling,

Coco Gauff Cori Dionne "Coco" Gauff ( ; born March 13, 2004) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of world No. 2 in singles and of world No. 1 in doubles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Gauff has won ten career ...

, and

Mxmtoon Maia (born July 9, 2000), known professionally as mxmtoon ( ), is an American singer-songwriter and YouTuber. Her music is characterized by emotionally transparent, confessional lyrics and often employs the ukulele. She released her first EP, ...

. In October 2020, Ramakrishnan became a global ambassador for humanitarian organization Plan International Canada, to promote girls and women's rights and

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

. She starred in the 2021 campaign for clothing brand Nobis's #NoColdShoulder initiative, which focuses on collecting and donating used jackets every November.

Personal life

In 2022, Ramakrishnan stated that she does not care about labels or the gender of the person that she dates or is in a relationship with, describing herself as "very much so a personality person": "I don't care if you're a boy, girl, or in between".

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramakrishnan, Maitreyi 2001 births Living people 21st-century Canadian actresses Canadian actresses of Asian descent Canadian people of Sri Lankan Tamil descent Canadian web series actresses Canadian Hindus Actresses from Mississauga Sri Lankan film actresses Sri Lankan television actresses Sri Lankan Tamil women Sri Lankan Tamil people Tamil television actresses Canadian expatriate actresses in the United States Canadian LGBTQ actresses Sri Lankan LGBTQ people