Speaker 1: It's like self love, Like you got the confidence one
Speaker 1: day of like, yeah, I deserve this. I am very
Speaker 1: proud of myself, but then the next day it's oh god,
Speaker 1: oh no, people think I'm a joke that could be
Speaker 1: sparked because you see one comment, and I used to
Speaker 1: do this. I'm going to be honest. I would scroll
Speaker 1: through comments until I found a negative one, scrolled through
Speaker 1: thousands of positive until I found a negative one. And
Speaker 1: that would be when I would turn off my phone,
Speaker 1: which is so unhealthy. Hey everyone, welcome back to On Purpose,
Speaker 1: the number one health podcast in the world. Thanks to
Speaker 1: each and every single one of you who come back
Speaker 1: every week to listen, learn and grow. Now you know
Speaker 1: that I'm always on the lookout to speak to people
Speaker 1: that I find interesting, fascinating, and often people that we
Speaker 1: don't know so much about them as a human, as
Speaker 1: an individual. We see them on the big screen, we
Speaker 1: watch them at home, we see them on our phones,
Speaker 1: but we don't know too much about them. And today's
Speaker 1: guest is someone who I've been watching binge watching religiously
Speaker 1: on Netflix on her show, never have I ever I'm
Speaker 1: talking about none other than my three Rama Krishnan, who's
Speaker 1: an actress known for her leading role as davy Vishra
Speaker 1: Kumar in the Netflix teen comedy series Never Have I Ever.
Speaker 1: In twenty nineteen, she was chosen by Mindy Kaling out
Speaker 1: of fifteen thousand candidates that applied for an open casting
Speaker 1: call for the show. She created her audition tape at
Speaker 1: a local library using her mother's camera, eventually being asked
Speaker 1: to send four more videos before having a screen test
Speaker 1: in la and being offered the role in twenty nineteen. Today,
Speaker 1: she's been named as one of the eighteen Groundbreakers, a
Speaker 1: list of girls who were breaking down barriers and changing
Speaker 1: the world in twenty twenty one, and she was named
Speaker 1: a breakout actor in Time one hundreds most Influential People.
Speaker 1: She was back for a second season and Never Have
Speaker 1: I Ever, and it was also announced that she will
Speaker 1: start in the Netflix romantic comedy The Netherfield Girls. Welcome
Speaker 1: to the show, My three, Rama, Christian and my three
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for doing this, Thank you for
Speaker 1: having me. Yeah, I've really been looking forward to this
Speaker 1: because I remember when season one came out and me
Speaker 1: and my wife literally watched the whole season in one night,
Speaker 1: and we were both just like, oh, my gosh, this
Speaker 1: show is so addictive. And you know, for us, it
Speaker 1: was interesting watching it because my wife and I, both
Speaker 1: from South Asian backgrounds, were born and raised in London,
Speaker 1: and so to see the somewhat South Asian experience portrayed
Speaker 1: through the show in the United States was a learning
Speaker 1: curve for us. It was you know, it was unique
Speaker 1: for us. It wasn't the same at all. I wanted
Speaker 1: to ask you show aside, tell us about what it
Speaker 1: was like growing up as a South Asian young woman
Speaker 1: in the United States and sorry in Canada for you.
Speaker 1: For me, it was a little different to Davy because
Speaker 1: I was no blessed to have people from all sorts
Speaker 1: of backgrounds you know, in class with me, which was
Speaker 1: really awesome because I got to learn about everyone's you know,
Speaker 1: backgrounds and cultures and identities and just life stories in general,
Speaker 1: which exposed me to a lot. But then also like
Speaker 1: really pushed me to figure out, Okay, how do you
Speaker 1: identify as a tumbled Canadian? Like what does that actually
Speaker 1: really mean to you? And I'm really thankful for my
Speaker 1: upbringing and I have to give a shout out to
Speaker 1: my parents. I wouldn't have said this, like, however, many
Speaker 1: years ago, but I realized now very quickly, with everything
Speaker 1: that's happened, I'm only like half of what I am,
Speaker 1: or like even a quarter of what I am like
Speaker 1: without them, you know what I'm saying, Like I need
Speaker 1: them to be who I am. So yeah, I love
Speaker 1: that tell us about something. Growing up like you said that,
Speaker 1: you would have felt like, oh, my parents are weird
Speaker 1: or I don't really connect with them, or I don't
Speaker 1: agree with them, And now you're like, oh, you were
Speaker 1: so right, Like, tell me about something that changed. I'm
Speaker 1: actually glad you asked that, because usually, like I get
Speaker 1: asked the question like, oh, you're parents like supportive of
Speaker 1: you going into acting, which is super valid as a question.
Speaker 1: As you know, reality has a lot of South Asian
Speaker 1: parents aren't right. It's a very you know, tricky field
Speaker 1: to go into entertainment. But my parents are very supportive.
Speaker 1: My dad growing up was always like, yeah, whatever you need, like,
Speaker 1: we'll figure it out, we'll get you there, we'll do
Speaker 1: whatever you got, do whatever you want, be whoever you want,
Speaker 1: but just be the best you can be at it.
Speaker 1: But despite all that, now looking back I realize how
Speaker 1: supportive and like how much they were there for me.
Speaker 1: Growing up as like a kid, I always felt like
Speaker 1: the outsider, you know, like in my family, like sort
Speaker 1: of like the black sheep. Because my brother, he's two
Speaker 1: years older than me. I'm the younger one, so I'm
Speaker 1: like the stereotypical, you know, younger rebellious sibling. And my
Speaker 1: brother was the good studious one and who loved reading books,
Speaker 1: while I'd rather just go to like an amusement park,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm going to read a book whatever. So
Speaker 1: I like I couldn't connect with my family for the
Speaker 1: long as time until I realized, like, wait, my home
Speaker 1: is like really cool to talk to you, and I
Speaker 1: it's like, you know, I don't like you've experienced as
Speaker 1: I'm sure you have. I feel like a lot of
Speaker 1: kids have. It's that moment where you stop necessarily idolizing
Speaker 1: your parents, thinking like, oh my god, they're everything and
Speaker 1: they're amazing, they can do nothing wrong. And then maybe
Speaker 1: you see them cry once and you're like, r, that's
Speaker 1: a little a little gross, or like they do something
Speaker 1: and you're like, oh, I actually like disagree with you
Speaker 1: on that. And I think when those moments started happening,
Speaker 1: I started humanizing them, and I'm like, yeah, yeah, I
Speaker 1: think that's that's her little tangent. Yeah, no, I love that.
Speaker 1: That's a great answer. I really appreciate you opening up
Speaker 1: and letting us in because you know, I love the
Speaker 1: character you play on the show, but on this show
Speaker 1: and on purpose, my whole focus is on you as
Speaker 1: a human and an individual. So I'm excited to get
Speaker 1: to know you know, my three Like, that's the person
Speaker 1: that I'm really interested in and fascinated by and in
Speaker 1: your journey. So thank you for being so open already
Speaker 1: and sharing stories. And now now that we all know
Speaker 1: that your brother's this super intelligent, he's also like like
Speaker 1: he's the book smart one, but I'm the street smart one,
Speaker 1: and he knows it, got it, got it. Well, it's
Speaker 1: funny because I have a younger sister. What's your age different?
Speaker 1: Two years? You said, so, my younger sisters four years
Speaker 1: younger than me, And it's the other way around. I'm
Speaker 1: the rebel. I'm the kid who got into trouble. I experimented,
Speaker 1: and she's like just the sweetest souls. We traded places.
Speaker 1: But no, I love what you're saying, and you know,
Speaker 1: I think it's so important to recognize that, like you said,
Speaker 1: it's always easy to look back and point fingers at
Speaker 1: our parents and be like, oh, they didn't let me
Speaker 1: do that, or they were they were wrong about this,
Speaker 1: but to be able to say and I feel the
Speaker 1: same way as you. You know, I look back at
Speaker 1: the things my parents forced me to do, and now
Speaker 1: I look back and I'm just like, wow, I'm so
Speaker 1: glad you forced me to do that. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think I think it's a good, good reflection. I
Speaker 1: wanted to talk about, you know, what were you like
Speaker 1: growing up as a child? Have you have you always
Speaker 1: been outgoing and you said rebellious. I want to hear
Speaker 1: a bit about that rebellious side, like what was your
Speaker 1: rebellion leading you too? Yeah? I mean I've always been
Speaker 1: like an extroverted, you know person. I always would talk
Speaker 1: to everyone growing up. My mom's rule was if she
Speaker 1: didn't know their parents, I wasn't going over to their house.
Speaker 1: Not happening so quickly, my GameCube, my Nintendo GameCube, became
Speaker 1: my best friend. And so I'm like pretty good at
Speaker 1: all those of your games. But that's why I also
Speaker 1: picked up a bunch of different like hobbies like drawing
Speaker 1: and painting and singing and playing piano, and you know,
Speaker 1: just doing these things by myself, and which I'm you know,
Speaker 1: one of those things I'm very thankful for because I
Speaker 1: have all those skills now. But in terms of like
Speaker 1: the rebellious side, that's actually from my parents too, in
Speaker 1: the sense it's like the sense of justice. My parents
Speaker 1: have always raised me to speak about what I believe in.
Speaker 1: If I see an injustice, speak up for it. If
Speaker 1: I see someone you know in trouble or like getting
Speaker 1: bullied or just picked on wrongfully, doesn't matter if you
Speaker 1: don't know them, go stand up for them, like speak
Speaker 1: your mind, and like you know, like the whole term
Speaker 1: of like code switching that many you know people of
Speaker 1: color do. I never did that, And that's truly because
Speaker 1: my mom especially raised me to believe you don't have
Speaker 1: to you just do you be who you are. Don't
Speaker 1: be a brat, but be who you are. You don't
Speaker 1: need to hide yourself or not speak your mind in
Speaker 1: a family party or in this professional setting. If you
Speaker 1: see something wrong, you speak up. My mom literally raised
Speaker 1: me as a kid and said, if someone ever punches you,
Speaker 1: you have one punchback. Make it count. Not what my
Speaker 1: mom would say to me, so, did you ever exercise
Speaker 1: that advice? Did you ever use that advice? No, I
Speaker 1: don't think I ever like did unless it was probably
Speaker 1: with a fight against my brother or something, or maybe
Speaker 1: like with my cousins. But definitely that energy was very
Speaker 1: much so there where my friends and knew like, okay,
Speaker 1: my tree like stands up for what she believes in.
Speaker 1: I was very well acquainted in high school with the
Speaker 1: principal's office, not for like bad things. The principle and
Speaker 1: I got along very well actually, but if I saw
Speaker 1: something go down with like a teacher and a student,
Speaker 1: like I'm there and I'm like, this is what's happening.
Speaker 1: You need to figure this out. This is wrong. No,
Speaker 1: I love that. I love that. Yeah, we need we
Speaker 1: need more people who speak up and stand up and
Speaker 1: don't just let things happen. By the sides, I'm intrigued.
Speaker 1: You said that that you developed a lot of skills
Speaker 1: because your parents were like if I don't know, their
Speaker 1: parents are not allowed to go out. I wonder did
Speaker 1: you get quite comfortable even though you're an extra. I'm
Speaker 1: interested did you get comfortable spending time alone? And do
Speaker 1: you think that has stayed the same more, are you
Speaker 1: kind of like, no, no, no, I don't like being alone.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, so that's thank you for asking that too,
Speaker 1: because this is something I always wanted to talk about
Speaker 1: as well. Like I up until probably my last year
Speaker 1: of high school, hated being alone. Like I hated it.
Speaker 1: I had sitting with my own thoughts. I hated just
Speaker 1: sitting with myself, having going to talk to myself, have
Speaker 1: to entertain myself because I didn't like myself. For the
Speaker 1: longest time, I would rather be anyone else, you know,
Speaker 1: and throughout like you know, school, I would always surround
Speaker 1: myself like a bunch of different people just to like,
Speaker 1: you know, hang out with. And the more people I
Speaker 1: had meant, the more opportunities to go out, the more
Speaker 1: stories and like conversations I could have that weren't with myself.
Speaker 1: Until you know, in grade twelve, I was forced to
Speaker 1: have those conversations with myself and realize, oh, I really
Speaker 1: don't like being alone. This is not fun. The whole
Speaker 1: reason I did after school theater was because I wanted
Speaker 1: something to do after school that would keep me at
Speaker 1: school and not send me home. Wow, that was the
Speaker 1: reason I started it. And then I'm obviously so thankful.
Speaker 1: But that's how I got into acting. Wow, that's amazing.
Speaker 1: I love hearing that. That's that's that's awesome that you
Speaker 1: were able to find something through actually being like, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm just using this as an escapism, but it actually
Speaker 1: became your life. Cut up. It caught up to me.
Speaker 1: I had to learn how to like sit in my
Speaker 1: own silence, which now I'm better at. I'm not perfect
Speaker 1: at it, and I don't think anyone really is. It's
Speaker 1: a growing journey because you're changing yourself. But I'm less
Speaker 1: harsh on myself as an individual in that way. Ye
Speaker 1: still in general, very art of myself. But yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I wanted to know you said that earlier. You were like,
Speaker 1: you know, up until you finished high school, You're like, oh,
Speaker 1: I really didn't enjoy being by myself. You're like, I
Speaker 1: didn't like myself. Tell us a bit about that, because
Speaker 1: I think that's a very common experience, but it's not
Speaker 1: commonly talked about because we don't hear people say that,
Speaker 1: Like for you to have the courage to just say
Speaker 1: right now, like I didn't like myself, like and and
Speaker 1: now that you're that's transitioning. And I loved how you said,
Speaker 1: it's not perfect. It's not like you figured it out,
Speaker 1: but you've been transitioning. Tell us why you didn't like yourself, Like,
Speaker 1: what made you feel that way? What put you in
Speaker 1: that position? I feel like being able to talk about it,
Speaker 1: first of all, actually comes from the show. Like one
Speaker 1: of the things that when people like talk about Davy
Speaker 1: just really quickly, like when they say, oh, she's so confident,
Speaker 1: yet she's a nerd. She is very confident still like
Speaker 1: one percent. She's loud, she's outspoken, but confident about herself. No,
Speaker 1: she's confident when it comes to grades and being BookSmart,
Speaker 1: but confident about her own thoughts, her own worth, her
Speaker 1: self worth, no way. And it was like this like
Speaker 1: weird experience of playing this character that I deeply care about,
Speaker 1: like a younger sister seeing her go through this, but
Speaker 1: also just knowing that a bunch of people, a whole
Speaker 1: writer's room wrote this, and that made me realize this
Speaker 1: isn't such an individual rare experience. So many people go
Speaker 1: through it, and we should talk about it more. I
Speaker 1: feel like, you know, loving yourself is so hard because
Speaker 1: one day you could be like there, you're on your ship.
Speaker 1: You're like, yeah, m had a great deal. Next day
Speaker 1: terrible gone. And that could be because of something as
Speaker 1: small as like, you know, getting a pimple right in
Speaker 1: the middle of your face, or getting into like a
Speaker 1: fight with someone and you feel just like a terrible
Speaker 1: human beings so true, It's so true. Yeah, And I
Speaker 1: think you know, I think you're spot on. I mean
Speaker 1: I look back to being and I love how you
Speaker 1: said that Davy's like a younger sister to you in
Speaker 1: the way that you see the see the role. I
Speaker 1: think that's such an interesting way to put it. And
Speaker 1: when I look back at my own self at sixteen,
Speaker 1: and if I honestly, I think a lot of people
Speaker 1: around me would have said I was pretty confident that.
Speaker 1: I think you're right. Like, if I really look inward,
Speaker 1: were you really now? I wasn't. I don't think I
Speaker 1: was at sixteen. I mean, sixteen's a really tough age
Speaker 1: to be actually confident. I mean, you barely know who
Speaker 1: you are, and you know, I find that a lot
Speaker 1: of people obviously, I mean you're nineteen now, I believe
Speaker 1: so I feel a lot of people also. What I
Speaker 1: love about what the show has done is that it's
Speaker 1: opened up this like multi generational conversation, Like it's not
Speaker 1: even though it's called a teen comedy series. It's like
Speaker 1: I'm not a teen and I watch it. My wife's
Speaker 1: not a teen and she watches it. And then I
Speaker 1: also know like full on parents, adults and uncles and
Speaker 1: aunties that are watching it. When you look at things
Speaker 1: generationally and you look at yourself growing up too, do
Speaker 1: you think that I feel like we always feel that
Speaker 1: the next generation doesn't get it, but we were that
Speaker 1: same generation when we were at that age. Do you
Speaker 1: ever feel like that when you're looking at Davy's your
Speaker 1: little sister you're now nineteen you're working with, and do
Speaker 1: you ever feel that way? Does that make sense for me?
Speaker 1: Like it's so interesting whenever people like whenever people talk
Speaker 1: about like Gen Z versus Gen X, versus millennials versus boomers,
Speaker 1: and sometimes like I just have to like close my
Speaker 1: ears about it and just like just say shut up,
Speaker 1: because at the end of the day, it's just the
Speaker 1: year you were born and how the world was it
Speaker 1: when you were born, when you were a kid, when
Speaker 1: you were at your coming of age Netflix ya moment,
Speaker 1: and that is totally valid and fair. It's a one
Speaker 1: hundred percent a different experience. Like my parents don't get
Speaker 1: what it means to grow up with technology in your school, right,
Speaker 1: but they went through things that we wouldn't get. But
Speaker 1: there's a lot that we can all universally understand, like
Speaker 1: this idea of loving yourself, like this idea of self
Speaker 1: confidence just in general mental health that is really universal.
Speaker 1: And it sucks because now what I'm finding is that
Speaker 1: like the generation conversation is starting to divide people of like, oh,
Speaker 1: that's such a millennial mentality, or like, uh, these like
Speaker 1: gen z years think they have it all together. They
Speaker 1: think they're like the bees knees, and it's like, no,
Speaker 1: you know what, Like to my fellow gen z, we're
Speaker 1: not the bees knees. We're not better. We're just humans
Speaker 1: and we all are at the end of the day.
Speaker 1: So why can't we just all be better despite what
Speaker 1: year we were born in. Go where your knee on
Speaker 1: eighties outfit, Go where your fifties hoop skirts? Like I
Speaker 1: don't care, just be nice and just talk about these
Speaker 1: things because there's not that many differences. My grandma learned
Speaker 1: so much from me. I learned so much from her,
Speaker 1: Like we talked, She's like my best friend, and I
Speaker 1: talked to her all the time. She learned so much
Speaker 1: from me, and I learned a lot from her. And
Speaker 1: that's like what matters, you know, well said, I love that.
Speaker 1: That's that's such a great, great way of putting it,
Speaker 1: in a great way of sharing it. Tell me, tell
Speaker 1: me about some of the things. I love hearing about
Speaker 1: this because my wife's also extremely close to her grandmother,
Speaker 1: Like real exactly how you just said, they're like best friends.
Speaker 1: I wanted to know what are some of the things
Speaker 1: you've shared with each other or land from each other,
Speaker 1: some of the things you've taught her, some of the
Speaker 1: things she's taught you. I'd love to hear about some
Speaker 1: of that. Yeah, I mean so, like I said, like before,
Speaker 1: when I was younger in my house, I felt like
Speaker 1: there was no one I could really talk to because
Speaker 1: I knew if I was going to talk to my
Speaker 1: brother and tell him a secret, that was gonna go
Speaker 1: right back down to Ama. I'm a was gonna find out.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be in trouble and I'm gonna get real mad.
Speaker 1: But my grandma, she's goaded. She was like my best
Speaker 1: friend would always like hang out with me, and now
Speaker 1: it's like she's like she's got Twitter, right, She'll see
Speaker 1: something on Twitter and she'll like, I mean, she mainly
Speaker 1: just follows me, but like, you know, she'll see something
Speaker 1: or like something that someone replies and like it'll be
Speaker 1: a slang term or like whatever kind of term. Maybe
Speaker 1: it's something about like the lgbt QI community, and she'll say,
Speaker 1: like what is this? So I'm like, yeah, mom, I'll
Speaker 1: teach you. And then she like knows about it and
Speaker 1: she's like okay, cool, like things like that, and then
Speaker 1: I get to learn, of course about how she grew up,
Speaker 1: of course, but then also just where she's coming from
Speaker 1: as someone who takes care of my grandfather and someone
Speaker 1: who has her own challenges. And I'm like, huh, we're
Speaker 1: not so different, Like we're really not, but yeah, I
Speaker 1: love that. It's it's great. You know, those conversations take
Speaker 1: time and patience because I'm sure that when she's asking
Speaker 1: you a question, you're having to then see it from
Speaker 1: her perspective, and yeah, you know, think about it. It's
Speaker 1: not just like you know, because like you said, she's
Speaker 1: come from a different time, she's had different experiences. It's
Speaker 1: amazing that you've developed that. Where do you think you
Speaker 1: developed that ability to be patient, to be empathetic The
Speaker 1: way you're talking, Like when I'm hearing you, you know,
Speaker 1: there's so much maturity in the way you're sharing how
Speaker 1: you are navigating this, which is beautiful to see. I'm
Speaker 1: not surprised at all, you know, it's it's awesome. But
Speaker 1: I wonder where do you think that came from? Was
Speaker 1: there an experience that happened in your life or was
Speaker 1: it through your parents who you're giving so much love
Speaker 1: and credit to. Where did that come from or where
Speaker 1: is that developed from? Is the question. I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: still a nineteen year old, like loser, like nineteen year
Speaker 1: old video game You're not a loser, but you're a
Speaker 1: nineteen year old video game player. Yes, yeah, still that's cool,
Speaker 1: that's my biggest flex But like I'm still just nineteen
Speaker 1: and like, you know whatever. But I think the idea
Speaker 1: of like maybe listening to people, I'm not gonna lie
Speaker 1: and say like, oh yeah, I listen to everyone and
Speaker 1: give them like everyone in my full heart. There's times
Speaker 1: where it's like hey, yeah, steering clear from you, you know,
Speaker 1: But when it comes to like sitting down with the
Speaker 1: people I care about, to hear them out, answer all
Speaker 1: their questions, hear where they're coming from, their perspective. I
Speaker 1: guess it's just me thinking, like, hey, when the tables turn,
Speaker 1: please hear me out, because there's been times like I've
Speaker 1: gone through moments in like school, when I was growing up,
Speaker 1: where I wasn't heard out, you know, and it's like, damn,
Speaker 1: it really sucks. And now with the industry, like being
Speaker 1: thrown into this industry, having no friends family who are
Speaker 1: in this industry at all, whether they're an actor or writer,
Speaker 1: director or producer, Like no one has done this in
Speaker 1: my family or in my circle, and it's such a
Speaker 1: unique experience that like I have when I talk to
Speaker 1: them about it. When I have, like, you know, my
Speaker 1: own issues about it and I'm you know, ranting about something,
Speaker 1: I want them to listen to me, you know. I
Speaker 1: want them to like try their best to put themselves
Speaker 1: in my shoes, try them their best to empathize and understand,
Speaker 1: because that's all they can do. They're never gonna know
Speaker 1: what it's like exactly, but they can empathize and like
Speaker 1: a little bit of a tangent here. But when it
Speaker 1: comes to acting, I always get asked, like, what's your method?
Speaker 1: Have a method? I genuinely don't have a method, Like
Speaker 1: I've never done an acting class in my life. But
Speaker 1: my process is that here's a character. You're gonna play
Speaker 1: this character, or in order to play this character, you
Speaker 1: have to believe in every single one of their decisions.
Speaker 1: You're basically their lawyer and you're gonna have to defend them.
Speaker 1: So when Davey's doing crazy, crazy things and she's making
Speaker 1: terrible choices at times, I have to empathize and understand, Okay, kid,
Speaker 1: why are we making this choice? Like we're gonna do it,
Speaker 1: but why where are you coming from? So it's empathy
Speaker 1: on another level of like okay, because now I'm gonna
Speaker 1: have to live this. Now, I'm gonna have to make
Speaker 1: it believable because it's one thing to pick Paxton over
Speaker 1: Eleanor and Fabiola, but there's another thing to pick Paxton
Speaker 1: believably and make the audience still actually believe that Davy
Speaker 1: feels she's making a right choice and have the audience
Speaker 1: understand that, yeah, this kid genuinely thinks this is the
Speaker 1: right choice. It's a bad choice, but we're gonna all
Speaker 1: empathize with her. Together. You know. I think what you're
Speaker 1: saying there about knowing why the character would do something
Speaker 1: and applying that in real life, like if we instead
Speaker 1: of if you've just said something beautiful day, instead of
Speaker 1: looking at what people do around us, if we listen
Speaker 1: to understand why they're doing it, then that's going to
Speaker 1: help us a lot more, because what people do doesn't
Speaker 1: always equate with why we think they're doing it. And
Speaker 1: even as an actor, as you're saying right now, like
Speaker 1: understanding why your character wants to do something is what
Speaker 1: makes it believable, and it's spot on, like you know
Speaker 1: that that's exactly what makes a difference. I want to
Speaker 1: ask you a bit more about that. When you talked
Speaker 1: about acting, they obviously it started as this escape and
Speaker 1: so you didn't have to go home and so that
Speaker 1: you could you could be there and after school did
Speaker 1: you have a and you said, no one in your
Speaker 1: family has ever done this before. Did you have a
Speaker 1: plan B from acting or was acting you were like,
Speaker 1: I'm all in, I'm going to make this happen. This
Speaker 1: is going to be my thing. So when I was ten,
Speaker 1: I decided I wanted to be like a Disney animator
Speaker 1: for Pixar. That was the dream. That was the dream
Speaker 1: for the longest time, up until my last year in
Speaker 1: high school. And then I realized drawing on other people's
Speaker 1: time made me miserable, like I could not do it,
Speaker 1: and I was like, oh my god, Like what am
Speaker 1: I going to do now? I felt like such a
Speaker 1: disappointment with myself because I and around school saying like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be a piaus our animator. I'm gonna like
Speaker 1: everyone knew, oh, my tree's dream job is to be
Speaker 1: an animator. And then I like didn't do it because
Speaker 1: I was like, I can't. I can't, I'm gonna be miserable.
Speaker 1: I still went through with my portfolio because I'm stubborn,
Speaker 1: but I was not happy. And then suddenly I was like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, what am I doing with my life?
Speaker 1: I basically just let down ten year old me. I
Speaker 1: went to Disney World and got all the inspiration that
Speaker 1: a ten year old could ask for. But while I
Speaker 1: was applying to universities, my mom she was the one
Speaker 1: that said, hey, like my three like, why don't you
Speaker 1: toss in like an application for theater? Put her in there,
Speaker 1: put her in the mix. And I was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: all right, Like fine, it's extra work, but maybe I'll
Speaker 1: regret it if I don't. Could be fun whatever. My
Speaker 1: mom recognized my passion for a theater before I did
Speaker 1: in high school. It was truly just a fun thing,
Speaker 1: and it was a fun thing that I also went
Speaker 1: into for like writing my own plays and directing my
Speaker 1: own play, then being in a musical, multiple musicals, multiple plays.
Speaker 1: But I was like, yeah, it's just fun times like
Speaker 1: I'm not going to be a big actor. But then
Speaker 1: eventually after I realized, you know, it was one of
Speaker 1: the first times in my life I was ever proud
Speaker 1: of myself. I finished my Grade twelve drama exam and
Speaker 1: I was really proud of myself and I was like,
Speaker 1: you know what, I do have skill, Like I am
Speaker 1: not a failure and that's great. So I accepted theater
Speaker 1: and that was the plan. But the plan wasn't to
Speaker 1: become a big actor, go work at Netflix. The plan
Speaker 1: was we'll see what happens. Maybe community theater is cool,
Speaker 1: which is awesome, or just in Toronto, like the local
Speaker 1: theater scene there, that would be great. That would be
Speaker 1: the ideal. That's beautiful. I love hearing how real that is.
Speaker 1: That's that's awesome to hear and and also to recognize
Speaker 1: just how beautiful that would have been if if that's
Speaker 1: what was meant for you and you were you know,
Speaker 1: you were prepared for that. I think so many, so
Speaker 1: many times we hear now it's almost like, well, if
Speaker 1: I can't do that, then I don't want to do
Speaker 1: it right. It's like, well, if I can't do that
Speaker 1: epitome peak moment, then I don't want to do it
Speaker 1: at all because it's not good enough. And it's almost
Speaker 1: like I love hearing from you. You're at the opposite
Speaker 1: where it's like, hey, if this is all it is,
Speaker 1: then yeah, that's fine. Yeah. Yeah, my logicals, if I
Speaker 1: do just theater in Toronto, that is fine because I
Speaker 1: would have fun and I would meet cool people, and
Speaker 1: then I would also have like the priority in my
Speaker 1: life might be different where I'm just meeting new people
Speaker 1: and that's where I get joy in my life. It
Speaker 1: might not be from my career. It might be from
Speaker 1: friends or you know, family, whatever it may be. Right, So, yeah,
Speaker 1: how did you pluck up the courage to send that
Speaker 1: first audition tape in? Because I feel the reason why
Speaker 1: I'm honing in on that moment. Is I think doing
Speaker 1: something like like that for the first time with your
Speaker 1: mom's camera without any like prep or plan. It's not
Speaker 1: like you had your acting coach in the room, and
Speaker 1: you know, Like, I think that all of us struggle
Speaker 1: with firsts, and all of us struggle with starting. Like
Speaker 1: I'm sure you speak to tons of people who say
Speaker 1: to you like, oh man too, I'm not sure. I'm
Speaker 1: not good enough, I'm not yes enough, I'm not smart enough,
Speaker 1: I'm not beautiful enough. How did you block up the car?
Speaker 1: Tell me that process, like, take us into your mind
Speaker 1: on that day. So let me start off by saying
Speaker 1: I was depressed. I was very depressed in my last
Speaker 1: year of high school, which took a long while for
Speaker 1: me to come to terms with. Like I didn't think
Speaker 1: I was. I was, definitely And I almost took a
Speaker 1: nap that day. Instead, my best friend texted me and
Speaker 1: they said, hey, I saw this tweet from Mindy Kaling, like,
Speaker 1: let's do this. I didn't even know how to use Twitter, Like,
Speaker 1: I didn't understand the differences between a retweet and a
Speaker 1: like they're basically the same thing. And basically, you know,
Speaker 1: my best friend Shahara texted me and I almost said no.
Speaker 1: I almost said, hey, man, I'm really tired. I think
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna take a nap. And then something in
Speaker 1: me just said, you know what, I haven't, like, I
Speaker 1: haven't hung out with my best friend in a long bit.
Speaker 1: I'll just I'll go hang out with Sara is the best.
Speaker 1: So I said, okay, cool, we'll figure out a time
Speaker 1: and we'll go to the community center. Because my house
Speaker 1: is way too loud. There's no way we're going to
Speaker 1: film a video that's like even decent in here. So
Speaker 1: we went to the community center. We figured out after
Speaker 1: an hour how to work my mom's camera because it
Speaker 1: kept shutting off so annoying, and then we googled up
Speaker 1: what a slate is. I didn't know what that was.
Speaker 1: But then we were flying, we were making our tapes,
Speaker 1: and the logic was to me, honestly, was Okay, we're
Speaker 1: gonna send it through this portal. Like it's not even
Speaker 1: going out in public on the internet or whatever, but
Speaker 1: like we're sending this through this portal, they might not
Speaker 1: ever even look at it generally. I was like, there's
Speaker 1: a good chance, like they'd never check it out. They'd
Speaker 1: probably be people all around the world auditioning for this.
Speaker 1: I have no experience. I made my acting resume on Canva,
Speaker 1: like the free like here Canva plus I guess I
Speaker 1: made my acting resume on Canva. My head shot was
Speaker 1: a photo that my best friend took like outside of
Speaker 1: my high school wall, and my eyes are squinty because
Speaker 1: of the sun. It's so messed up, so I didn't
Speaker 1: think people would look at it. And with all that
Speaker 1: in mind, the fact that people all around the world
Speaker 1: are auditioning for this, I was like, Okay, I'm probably
Speaker 1: not gonna get this. I have literally no job experience
Speaker 1: at all. I can't even say of like, you know,
Speaker 1: done retail, So who cares. I'm gonna just do the
Speaker 1: best possible job i can because why not. And it's funny.
Speaker 1: I have the text from that day with my best
Speaker 1: friend where we literally say hey, man, like that was
Speaker 1: really fun, thanks for hanging out with me, and they
Speaker 1: were like, you know what, we can say we were
Speaker 1: part of something bigger when the show takes off, we
Speaker 1: can technically say we contributed to it. And then I said, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know what, maybe we'll get royalties for that, like
Speaker 1: as a joke, And then I said, but it would
Speaker 1: be pretty sweet if you went to Hollywood, right, and
Speaker 1: then we were like ha ha, who knows one day, man,
Speaker 1: maybe one day, and then that was it. That's amazing.
Speaker 1: I love that story. Thank you for sharing that with us.
Speaker 1: I know you've shared it before, but I love it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's such a great story, and I have to have
Speaker 1: you shared with our audience and community because it's it
Speaker 1: just you know, I just love how happy you were
Speaker 1: with what you were doing and how if it didn't
Speaker 1: go anywhere, it wasn't a thing. It was just like,
Speaker 1: well we tried, we put it out there into the world,
Speaker 1: like we'll get like we did, you know, Like I
Speaker 1: wasn't going to put out something like I didn't believe it,
Speaker 1: because then in my mind I'd be like, uh, I
Speaker 1: didn't give it my best shot. I'm not an athletic person,
Speaker 1: but if I'm going to play a basketball game with someone,
Speaker 1: you best know, oh, I'm gonna try my best. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Will there be a lot of sweating, very much so,
Speaker 1: probably a lot of falling knees, being skid, maybe a
Speaker 1: bit of blood, but I will try, you know. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And my mom says like I'm now just living my
Speaker 1: life purpose and she can see it. She saw it
Speaker 1: honestly in high school when I was doing all my performances,
Speaker 1: because she came to every single one. She saw the
Speaker 1: joy that it gave me. And I'd have to agree.
Speaker 1: I feel like acting, being in this creative industry of
Speaker 1: film and TV, it is my life purpose. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: love that energy. That's awesome and it and it shines
Speaker 1: off of your face. Like even though we're not even
Speaker 1: sitting in front of each other right now, I can
Speaker 1: I can totally see it. It's it's so real and
Speaker 1: your passion so true, and it's it's so authentic. I
Speaker 1: love it. Tell me about tell me about how that
Speaker 1: translated to then being on your first day on set,
Speaker 1: because that's a whole nother Like that's a whole different
Speaker 1: bowl game now because it's like you've gone from being
Speaker 1: with your best friend to making a video to now
Speaker 1: being on set. Where where was the set? Where was
Speaker 1: it shot? And tell me about that experience from your perspective,
Speaker 1: not Davy's perspective of yours. Yeah, we always shoot on
Speaker 1: the universal lot in LA So season two actually entirely
Speaker 1: was shot on a lot. We did no locations anywhere
Speaker 1: else because of COVID, so we got very crafty with
Speaker 1: you know, spots in different sets. But the first day,
Speaker 1: I remember the scene exactly. It was the scene where
Speaker 1: Davy is telling Fabiola and Eleanor that she has chosen
Speaker 1: attainable yet status enhancing boyfriends for each of us to date.
Speaker 1: And that was the first scene we ever shot the
Speaker 1: entire show. And I remember being so excited that we
Speaker 1: did one take and lang Fisher says, Okay, so you
Speaker 1: just you gotta slow down a little, just you gotta
Speaker 1: slow down a little. And she's like, maybe you're a
Speaker 1: little nervous, and I was like, honestly, I'm not nervous
Speaker 1: at all. I'm just really excited to be here. I
Speaker 1: was introducing myself to everyone, saying like hi, I might
Speaker 1: trade round mc christian, like it's your name, trying to
Speaker 1: get to know everyone, and I was my mentality was
Speaker 1: the two first things I learned like really quick was
Speaker 1: Number one, trust everyone to do their job, and then
Speaker 1: you stick and focus on yours. When you trust and
Speaker 1: then respect everyone for their job, you'll be swimming because
Speaker 1: then they will respect you to do yours and they'll
Speaker 1: be your biggest champions. Don't worry about what the sound
Speaker 1: guy's doing. Don't get in the business of the lighting guy.
Speaker 1: Let them do their thing, because they're respectfully the craft,
Speaker 1: the masters of their own craft. So when you respect
Speaker 1: them and you take interest in a genuine, authentic way
Speaker 1: of actually caring about what they do, they'll recognize that.
Speaker 1: And then they're gonna light you and mike you up
Speaker 1: and get the best angle of you that they possibly can,
Speaker 1: because now they're on your team. Right. And then the
Speaker 1: second thing that I like you kept in mind at
Speaker 1: all times was stay alert and learn everything you possibly
Speaker 1: can not many get the opportunity. You have the best
Speaker 1: co op in the world. Learn everything. Don't be afraid
Speaker 1: to ask questions. And now this is credit to Mindy
Speaker 1: Kaling and Langfisher because they make such a great atmosphere
Speaker 1: where I never felt stupid. I was the only like
Speaker 1: cast member, number one, the youngest cast member, but also
Speaker 1: the one that has never in their life been on
Speaker 1: a set. And despite that, I never felt stupid for it.
Speaker 1: Were there times where I was like, oh God, I
Speaker 1: have to cry now. I've never cried on command before.
Speaker 1: And Sandel is here and he's on like the flash
Speaker 1: or something and I have to cry and this is
Speaker 1: a lot. Yeah, that happened, but I never felt dumb
Speaker 1: and I never felt dub for asking questions. I never
Speaker 1: felt dumb for asking for help. And yeah, that's how
Speaker 1: we got through the days. That's beautiful. That's it's so hard,
Speaker 1: isn't it, Because that imposter syndrome so real and yeah,
Speaker 1: and you can often just feel completely out of your depths.
Speaker 1: But those lessons, actually I was going to ask you,
Speaker 1: how would you deal with imposter syndrome if you felt it?
Speaker 1: But those two piece of advice you gave us, two
Speaker 1: lessons that you take away, actually make a lot of
Speaker 1: sense and actually come as great pieces of insight for
Speaker 1: anyone who's struggling with imposter syndrome. Because and I'm guessing
Speaker 1: that's not changed. I mean, now you're on you know,
Speaker 1: front covers of magazines, like you're invited to all these
Speaker 1: beautiful events as you should be rightly. Have I love
Speaker 1: that you're bringing your excitement everywhere. Has imposter syndrome ever
Speaker 1: crept in or have you been really like yeah, tell
Speaker 1: us about that process. One percent. It creeps in like
Speaker 1: every so often sometimes like it's like self love, like
Speaker 1: you got the confidence one day of like, yeah, I
Speaker 1: deserve this, I am very proud of myself, amazing, but
Speaker 1: then the next day it's oh god, oh no, I
Speaker 1: messed up. I'm terrible, Like people think I'm a joke.
Speaker 1: And that could be sparked because you see one comment
Speaker 1: and I used to do this. I'm going to be honest.
Speaker 1: I would scroll through comments until I found a negative one,
Speaker 1: scroll through thousands of positive until I found a negative one.
Speaker 1: And that would be when I would turn off my phone,
Speaker 1: which is so unhealthy. But maybe imposter syndrome is sparked
Speaker 1: because you heard someone say, oh, I wish she like
Speaker 1: would enunciate more like she speaks weird, And I'm like,
Speaker 1: you know what, maybe maybe you're right, Maybe I should
Speaker 1: just I should get a dialect coach for my own
Speaker 1: voice and my own you know sound. Maybe I should
Speaker 1: do that. But you realize that a lot of people
Speaker 1: go through it, A lot of people go through imposter syndrome.
Speaker 1: And then you're like, huh, I mean we can't all
Speaker 1: be imposters, right, Like that makes sense. Some of us
Speaker 1: have to be genuine, and some of the most genuine
Speaker 1: people I know go through that. But I remind myself
Speaker 1: that I have worked hard, and I used to piss
Speaker 1: me off in season one was when people would say,
Speaker 1: oh my god, you're so lucky that you got picked.
Speaker 1: You're so lucky, and I'm like, yeah, A good bit
Speaker 1: of fame is a lot a lot about being at
Speaker 1: the right place at the right time, for sure. But
Speaker 1: I also worked really hard. Luck sure was getting my
Speaker 1: audition tape scenting at the right day, at the right time,
Speaker 1: and somehow that got landed on their screens. And you know,
Speaker 1: I did all that, But I did work really hard
Speaker 1: during the audition process. But you know what, even if
Speaker 1: you want to call the whole audition luck, you can't
Speaker 1: call the season luck. Netflix comes out with so many
Speaker 1: shows a day, but we're one of the biggest shows.
Speaker 1: That's hard work. Yeah, you know. Yeah. When I ride
Speaker 1: myself of that, I'm like, you know what, I'm not
Speaker 1: that big of an imposter. I think I can relax today. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't think at all. I think so.
Speaker 1: First of all, when I first watched the season, I
Speaker 1: would never have been able to tell whether you'd acted
Speaker 1: before or not. Like I would never have been able
Speaker 1: to tell like, no, no, I couldn't say. I couldn't
Speaker 1: have watched. I been like, she doesn't look like a
Speaker 1: real like you would never said that you were. You're
Speaker 1: great from episode one, like you always appear completely comfortable
Speaker 1: and I believe you as in I have to really talk.
Speaker 1: I had to prepare today by going, I am not
Speaker 1: interviewing Davy. I'm interviewing my three like I had to
Speaker 1: literally be like, do not think of her as Davy
Speaker 1: like you have. I've got to as an interviewer, I
Speaker 1: have to stop thinking you're this character because I believe
Speaker 1: you're this character, Like I don't have any doubt that
Speaker 1: you are Davy when you're playing Davy, and I think
Speaker 1: that is a You know that to me is credit
Speaker 1: to your skills. And I always say to people like
Speaker 1: the people that have success, they should see it as
Speaker 1: fortune and joy, but everyone else to see it as
Speaker 1: hard work, because when you see someone else's success as luck,
Speaker 1: you then think you're unlucky, and then it stops you
Speaker 1: from working hard. When actually, when you see someone's success
Speaker 1: as hard work, you go, Okay, I know what I
Speaker 1: need to do now, and it sets you up. Does
Speaker 1: that make sense? Ye get inspired by it. Don't let
Speaker 1: it defeat your own goals, your own worth, your own
Speaker 1: journey in life. Right. I feel like whenever people ask
Speaker 1: me like how do I get into acting? Like how
Speaker 1: do I do this? In my head, my response is always,
Speaker 1: I mean, be on the lookout for the next tweet.
Speaker 1: I guess, like that's all why I did it. But
Speaker 1: reality is everything happens in different ways for people, especially
Speaker 1: in the creative industries like music, acting, whatever. It is
Speaker 1: so unique for everyone. So you can't get yourself discouraged
Speaker 1: when you see someone else succeed. At this age, you know,
Speaker 1: you can't compare yourself. You should appreciate and respect them
Speaker 1: for their hard work that they did and then being
Speaker 1: maybe even being inspired by it, you know, but don't
Speaker 1: let it take down your own self worth. But I
Speaker 1: was gonna say, I hope talking to me, I don't
Speaker 1: seem like Davy. It was really funny when season one
Speaker 1: came out. It was very funny because some people would
Speaker 1: look at my success, like you said, as luck, and
Speaker 1: then they would take it as themselves as they're unlucky,
Speaker 1: and then that could turn to the other way and
Speaker 1: then become jealousy, and that was rough. But then people
Speaker 1: just you know, would either come out of the woodwork
Speaker 1: to be like, oh my god, my sure, I'm so
Speaker 1: proud of you. I'm like, we have not talked in
Speaker 1: ages what. But then some people would just start being
Speaker 1: passive aggressive, like oh, you're too big time for us,
Speaker 1: or just say some jokes that would just be like, hey, dude,
Speaker 1: I'm not like a changed person. I'm still me. Literally
Speaker 1: the show even came out in Quarantine. I've been stuck
Speaker 1: in the same house that you guys come over for
Speaker 1: like my birthday parties. Man, like what? But yeah, the
Speaker 1: best way I know of finding out, like who actually
Speaker 1: know me is when they say like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: I watched season one and I was asking myself, were
Speaker 1: you even acting? You're so much like the character. And
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, thank you. So there's that. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's not what I was saying. I was saying that
Speaker 1: because we've never met before. My only respective of you
Speaker 1: is this character, which you play so believably, and and
Speaker 1: I wanted to make sure today that I'm talking to
Speaker 1: you and asking questions about you and not about Davy.
Speaker 1: And so for me, it was more about the saying
Speaker 1: how believably you play this character. Hence your skills as
Speaker 1: opposed to thinking you're lucky, because if you were lucky,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't believe that you were Davy in the show.
Speaker 1: I would just be like, oh, this is this is weird,
Speaker 1: Like who's the you know, like that that would be
Speaker 1: the whereas I don't feel that way. So and and
Speaker 1: getting to know you today, yeah, I mean saying you're
Speaker 1: like Davy is like really stereotyping and just I mean
Speaker 1: there's no there's no like everyone has so much more
Speaker 1: depth and layers. And even today, I've discovered so much
Speaker 1: more about you that I would never have known. And
Speaker 1: that's that's what I'm hoping my community will too. But
Speaker 1: tell us about you know. I love everything you've been sharing.
Speaker 1: I love the messages that you're sharing with people, especially
Speaker 1: because it's so hard, and in our South Asian community,
Speaker 1: it's harder because when we've been less supposed to this
Speaker 1: happening to people around us and these opportunities being given,
Speaker 1: so people find it harder to react. You had in
Speaker 1: your Instagram bio respect existence or expect resistance. I wanted
Speaker 1: to understand what inspired that statement and what you connected
Speaker 1: to deeply in your life. Yeah, I think I saw
Speaker 1: that like statement somewhere on the internet back when I
Speaker 1: was in high school somewhere, and I thought, oh my god, wordplay.
Speaker 1: That is so smart. That was my first thing. But
Speaker 1: then I was like, yeah, you know what, that's really awesome.
Speaker 1: And from a Grade twelve art exam, we had to
Speaker 1: make a mural. And like, if you scroll back far
Speaker 1: enough on my Instagram feed, now there's a picture of it,
Speaker 1: this gigantic mural I painted by myself, of this brown
Speaker 1: girl and you know, she's got these like rainbow hearts
Speaker 1: all around her gold background and at the top it
Speaker 1: says respect existence or expect resistance. And the whole idea
Speaker 1: was like, you know, here's this brown girl rambow hearts,
Speaker 1: you know, symbolizing like the LGBTQI community and just the
Speaker 1: idea of respect people, you know, and it's this woman,
Speaker 1: you know, and I just like it as my Instagram
Speaker 1: bio because it's it makes so much sense to me,
Speaker 1: you know, respect people's existence, and if you don't, get
Speaker 1: ready for people to be upset and get ready for
Speaker 1: that backlash, because you need to respect other people for
Speaker 1: who they are. You need to respect the fact that
Speaker 1: when I say there isn't enough South Asian representation and film.
Speaker 1: Get ready and respect it, because if you're going to
Speaker 1: resist it, you're going to be behind the curve. And suddenly,
Speaker 1: if you're a writer that isn't willing to add true diversity,
Speaker 1: not token diversity, to your scripts, no one's gonna want
Speaker 1: to work with you, because the world's changing, and honestly,
Speaker 1: it's getting with the ride of getting the car of
Speaker 1: respecting people for who they are, treating people with respect
Speaker 1: like the Golden rule or just get out. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't have time for people with that attitude. Yeah, well s.
Speaker 1: I love the distinction between true and token diversity. I
Speaker 1: think that's such an important that's so huge because we
Speaker 1: hear statements that are token diversity statements all the time.
Speaker 1: I was literally just talking to someone last week and
Speaker 1: they were told by an agency that they wouldn't be
Speaker 1: signing them because they already have someone who is a
Speaker 1: brown person in that niche that they're in, And they
Speaker 1: were like, we already have one of you, and I
Speaker 1: was just like, and I literally that conversation happened last week,
Speaker 1: and they were asking me what I thought about that
Speaker 1: and how to navigate it, and I wanted to ask
Speaker 1: you how is your view on that on diversity changed
Speaker 1: having been someone obviously developing their career to now being
Speaker 1: on the other side where you have a successful show,
Speaker 1: you're in the industry, people know you, you know people.
Speaker 1: Has getting closer to the industry made you feel more
Speaker 1: excited about what's happening or are you actually seeing more
Speaker 1: and you're like okay, wow, like you know this team
Speaker 1: INDI and this team's got it right, but actually there's
Speaker 1: a lot of work that needs to be done. I
Speaker 1: want to know how your views changed from before and after.
Speaker 1: Definitely the latter, like I actually realized how used to
Speaker 1: and just you know, conditioned. I became to not seeing
Speaker 1: people like myself South Asian women on screen until after
Speaker 1: never have I ever season one came out. Up until
Speaker 1: that point, I was just okay, I guess with the
Speaker 1: fact that people like me, we're background characters, quirky best
Speaker 1: friends that were sexually deprived because that's a lovely stereotype,
Speaker 1: or that they're just comedic relief. They're shy, they're awkward,
Speaker 1: they can't talk to women unless they're drunk. You know,
Speaker 1: you get used to that. And then the show came out.
Speaker 1: I met people in the industry, and it made me, yeah,
Speaker 1: hopeful that things are changing. But honest, I have this
Speaker 1: like anger in me of like this sucks. If I
Speaker 1: didn't make it into the industry, I would have maybe
Speaker 1: just been okay with it all this time, Like this
Speaker 1: is not okay. And we run around and saying like diversity,
Speaker 1: like diversity, diversity, We say it so much, but we
Speaker 1: have to. It's like, what the other choice do we have,
Speaker 1: Like it's become this fluff word, but it's such a
Speaker 1: mandatory fluff word, you know, like it is very important
Speaker 1: because it's not happening fast enough. In my opinion. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the needle is moving inch by inch, not even inch
Speaker 1: millimeter by millimeter. Let me go with my lovely Canadian system.
Speaker 1: But you know, it's moving like a little bit by
Speaker 1: a little bit. But I get so angry sometimes where
Speaker 1: I just want to push it, you know, because it's
Speaker 1: not fair to expect a whole community of people to
Speaker 1: look at Davy and feel represented. I used to think, oh, no,
Speaker 1: like you don't feel represented by the show. But we
Speaker 1: worked really hard on it. It's a really good show.
Speaker 1: We do so much. But then I was like, no,
Speaker 1: that's selfish of me. I'm falling into the trap that
Speaker 1: reality is the white dominant. You know, industry of Hollywood,
Speaker 1: film TV wants me to to make these people just
Speaker 1: deal with it. But they shouldn't and I shouldn't. I
Speaker 1: shouldn't have to settle with Davy being my one, you know,
Speaker 1: main character role that was truly birthed by a leader
Speaker 1: in the industry, Mindy Kaling. I shouldn't have to settle
Speaker 1: for that. I should be able to get all the roles,
Speaker 1: you know, and keep going with my career. Audiences shouldn't
Speaker 1: have to settle for just Davy or a Nolany or
Speaker 1: Kamala or even a Nissan in season two. They should
Speaker 1: be able to get all the different kind of characters.
Speaker 1: If you are so proud in your identity, if you're
Speaker 1: so proud of it and that is how you identify,
Speaker 1: it means it's a story worth telling, and nobody can
Speaker 1: say otherwise. It is definitely worth screen time in some
Speaker 1: way or another. You know, Yeah, that's so powerful. Thank
Speaker 1: you for sharing that, my three. It's such a powerful statement.
Speaker 1: And really, you know, it's emphatic in the way you
Speaker 1: said it. It's it's it's strong, it's powerful, it's bold,
Speaker 1: and that's it's the way it needs to be said.
Speaker 1: I remember when I first moved to LA, and I'm
Speaker 1: obviously born and raised in London, hence the British accent
Speaker 1: and all the rest of it. But when I moved
Speaker 1: to LA, I remember going to get my hair cut
Speaker 1: and I remember my head dress is saying to me.
Speaker 1: They were just like, where are you from? And that's normal.
Speaker 1: I always get asked that because if how I look
Speaker 1: at my accent and they were like they didn't know
Speaker 1: that Indian people sounded any different or looked any different
Speaker 1: to Apoo in the Simpsons, Like that was there, like
Speaker 1: like their their take on you know, what Indian people are.
Speaker 1: And so they were just like are you Indian? Are
Speaker 1: you sure? And I was like, yeah, I'm Indian. My
Speaker 1: parents are both Indian. Yeah I'm sure. Yeah, but we
Speaker 1: don't sack check. I'll be right back and then you
Speaker 1: can cut my hair. Yeah. And it was so funny
Speaker 1: because I was just like I couldn't been. I was like,
Speaker 1: and that's and I sat back to think about it.
Speaker 1: I moved to LA three years ago, and I set
Speaker 1: back to think about it, and I was like, yeah, wow,
Speaker 1: like for a certain generation. I grew up on The
Speaker 1: Simpsons too, and I was like, yeah, anyone who watched
Speaker 1: The Simpsons like that was the only character that they
Speaker 1: saw being Indian, right, and so on. TV influence what
Speaker 1: we see in the world. It is a reflection of
Speaker 1: what our world is like, right, So yeah, it makes
Speaker 1: sense that they're coming and thinking like that's the reality.
Speaker 1: I mean, if they ever just checked out any article
Speaker 1: or like, you know, just maybe come sense or just
Speaker 1: understood colonialism, you know, maybe but they only ever watched cartoons,
Speaker 1: then that would be what they think. Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1: But what's beautiful is that you've not only you know,
Speaker 1: you're not only doing things on screen. I love how
Speaker 1: you're speaking about these things off screen and interviews and
Speaker 1: using your platform for a higher purpose. I know that
Speaker 1: you also did the amazing table read recently for the
Speaker 1: fundraiser for India, you know, supporting that was so awesome. Well,
Speaker 1: it was, it was. I mean, now I wish I
Speaker 1: asked you to be a part of that, could have
Speaker 1: interviewed you then, But it's you know, I just thought
Speaker 1: it was so amazing to just see just so many
Speaker 1: people using their platform, especially you know what you and
Speaker 1: the whole team did. I think it was amazing because
Speaker 1: you know, I think for so many people you are representing,
Speaker 1: and I love your I love what you're saying, Like
Speaker 1: what you just said was so humble and so beautiful
Speaker 1: about how you don't want to get caught up in
Speaker 1: the way people want you to think that it's enough
Speaker 1: and there should be I love that. But at the
Speaker 1: same time, you are also through the show doing an
Speaker 1: amazing service and effort as well, Like you know, it's
Speaker 1: important for me to say that, and I love the
Speaker 1: way you're saying it, but I want to acknowledge that.
Speaker 1: But then for you and the team to do that
Speaker 1: for India, I thought that was such a beautiful offering
Speaker 1: and I wanted to get an understanding from you, like
Speaker 1: you seem to constantly want to use your platform, and
Speaker 1: you're ever growing platform for higher purpose, for you know,
Speaker 1: fighting for the right for education, for standing up, like
Speaker 1: you said your mom told you to always stand up.
Speaker 1: I wanted you to tell me about something that what
Speaker 1: was one of the first things you tried to stand
Speaker 1: up for back in the day, or something someone that
Speaker 1: you try to stand up for and it maybe didn't
Speaker 1: go how you wanted or maybe you learn something interesting
Speaker 1: from it. I mean, like, yeah, with all the activism
Speaker 1: that does stem from how my parents raised me, like
Speaker 1: that has always been who I am. Before the show
Speaker 1: came out, I actually had a picture of like a
Speaker 1: walkout that I did for public cuts to public education
Speaker 1: on my Instagram, Like there's some photos and I had
Speaker 1: some people ask me, are you going to take that down?
Speaker 1: And I'm like, no, no way, That's still my stance.
Speaker 1: Don't cut public education. Education is the cornerstone to any
Speaker 1: thriving society. But yeah, I mean, I'm still just a
Speaker 1: nineteen year old kid that's learning every day, and it's
Speaker 1: very much so capable of mistakes. Whenever I talk about this,
Speaker 1: I realized it contributes to the pedestal that I feel
Speaker 1: like I start putting myself on, and then the farther
Speaker 1: the fall becomes and I have to always remind myself
Speaker 1: for just nineteen make mistakes, and when you're older, you
Speaker 1: can still make mistakes. We all can still make mistakes.
Speaker 1: But back to your original question. Okay, so one of
Speaker 1: my close friends I don't actually remember this, but they
Speaker 1: vividly do, and they love to bring it up every
Speaker 1: single time we meet new people. And apparently so my friend,
Speaker 1: fellow Thumble girl, she would always dress up in her
Speaker 1: traditional clothing, have a putta like she was, you know,
Speaker 1: braided up. That's how she came to school every day
Speaker 1: in elementary school, and her mom was like always taking
Speaker 1: her home for lunch, and you know, she's the best.
Speaker 1: Shout out to Varsha, but some people would make fun
Speaker 1: of her for that. I saw her and was like, oh, okay, cool.
Speaker 1: Like I would wear my brother's hand me downs. That
Speaker 1: was like how my family rolled. We weren't going to
Speaker 1: buy new clothes for me. You just get a baggy,
Speaker 1: you know, monster car shirt. That's cool. I don't care.
Speaker 1: But I'd see her and I'd be like, okay, cool.
Speaker 1: You basically like looked like one of my cousins, so
Speaker 1: that's nifty. But then these girls were picking on her.
Speaker 1: I saw one day they were picking on her, and
Speaker 1: they were like bullying her and like just making fun
Speaker 1: of her and like getting really up in her space,
Speaker 1: and I saw that she was getting anxious. Apparently, I
Speaker 1: keep saying apparently because I don't remember this, but apparently
Speaker 1: I went up to them, and it's important to mention.
Speaker 1: Shout out to my cousins. They all taught me lovely
Speaker 1: colorful language at like the age of seven. So I
Speaker 1: went up to them curse them out and said, just
Speaker 1: you know, leave her alone and yeah. Then they got like,
Speaker 1: you know, they were like, oh, are you fine? Whatever,
Speaker 1: Like my tree is like whatever, you're getting at mad?
Speaker 1: And then they walked off. And then I just apparently
Speaker 1: said you're good. She was like yeah, and then I'm
Speaker 1: like okay, and then I walked away. I wasn't like
Speaker 1: friends with her at the time. We became friends in
Speaker 1: like high school, but I was like, okay, cool, thanks,
Speaker 1: and then I just led. She vidly remembers this. So
Speaker 1: there you go. There's my time. I I love that.
Speaker 1: I love that, my three. It has been so much
Speaker 1: fun talking to you. I know you've got an extremely
Speaker 1: busy schedule and so many interviews are doing so it's
Speaker 1: so grateful you spend time with the on Purpose community.
Speaker 1: But I want to end with our fast five. So
Speaker 1: we end every interview with the Fast five round that
Speaker 1: has to be answered in one word to one sentence maximum,
Speaker 1: so no longer notice how much I talk. I loved it.
Speaker 1: I love that you talk. It was great. I loved
Speaker 1: that you two. All right, So my three rama Christian,
Speaker 1: and these are your fast five. The first question is
Speaker 1: what is the best advice you've ever received? Stick to
Speaker 1: your morals, don't take no for an answer. Yeah that's
Speaker 1: two sentences. Crap, that's fine. What is the worst advice
Speaker 1: you've ever received? I don't know, bad advice. I feel
Speaker 1: like I would probably want to get rid of that
Speaker 1: out of my brain as quickly as possible. You know what,
Speaker 1: bad advice? Don't make a us about it, Like that's
Speaker 1: not even like advice, Like it's not like I even
Speaker 1: took it. But yeah, don't make a fuss about it, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a good answer, all right. Question number three, what's
Speaker 1: the first thing you do in the morning and the
Speaker 1: last thing you do at night? Oh? Really unhealthy? Go
Speaker 1: on my phone? What do you do on your phone? Um,
Speaker 1: it's either a watching cartoons or TikTok social media, but
Speaker 1: mainly cartoons. Amazing, I love it, all right. Question number four,
Speaker 1: what's the biggest lesson you've learned in the last twelve months.
Speaker 1: It's okay to make mistakes. You're a work in progress.
Speaker 1: And that's because my mom always calls me that. She
Speaker 1: always says whenever anyone praises me to my mom and says,
Speaker 1: your daughters so lovely, Oh my gosh, I love her.
Speaker 1: My mom just says she's a work in progress. He
Speaker 1: is unfazed. It could be a compliment from mindy herself,
Speaker 1: and my mom just says work in progress. Next, next
Speaker 1: time I see your mom, I'm gonna try the oposite.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say, well, first time I see your mom,
Speaker 1: maybe not the first time I see your mom. I
Speaker 1: think I'll I'll be good the festive sea. I think
Speaker 1: if I ever get to be a mother again, if
Speaker 1: I get the wonderful fortune, I'll say I think my
Speaker 1: three is a work in progress. I want to see
Speaker 1: what actually react. Yeah, just spending on her. Yeah, No,
Speaker 1: I love that. That's beautiful and and I one of
Speaker 1: the things I really appreciated in this conversation is how
Speaker 1: much you kept repeating, Hey, I can make mistakes, and nineteen,
Speaker 1: I'll make mistakes. Hey, even if you're older, you can
Speaker 1: make mistakes. And I love that because I completely agree
Speaker 1: with you. Like we're all doing things that we were
Speaker 1: never trained to do, we were never sure we were
Speaker 1: going to do, and we don't know how humans weren't
Speaker 1: meant to be watched by millions totally. We can all
Speaker 1: unequickly agree on the fact that in the evolution, you know,
Speaker 1: timeline humans were never conditioned or trained or you know,
Speaker 1: evolved to see and be viewed by millions of people.
Speaker 1: It's just the facts. Yeah, yeah, I love that, all right.
Speaker 1: Fifteen final question it is if you could create one
Speaker 1: law that everyone in the world had to follow, what
Speaker 1: would it be? If you buy ice cream, you should
Speaker 1: buy one for your friend everyone? My three rather Christna
Speaker 1: make sure you go and what never have I ever?
Speaker 1: I'd also love for you to tag me and my
Speaker 1: three on Instagram to let us know, and on Twitter
Speaker 1: of course let us know. What were your favorite parts?
Speaker 1: What were the things that she said that stood out,
Speaker 1: that resonated and connected with you. I love seeing what
Speaker 1: truly stays with you when you listen to these episodes,
Speaker 1: and I'd love for her to see it as well.
Speaker 1: My three, You've been amazing. I really do look forward
Speaker 1: to meeting you. You have an open invite to my
Speaker 1: wife and I was home whenever you're in La, so
Speaker 1: please come over and hang out and you can. We
Speaker 1: are older than you, so you can treat us as
Speaker 1: you're older, whatever you want to call us, but we
Speaker 1: truly mean that and look forward to meeting you and
Speaker 1: thank you for taking the time. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: This is actually really fun talk about all these things
Speaker 1: that I haven't been able to before, so that means
Speaker 1: that means a lot to me. I laughed a lot today,
Speaker 1: so I'm glad. I had a lot of fun too.
Speaker 1: I was laughing the whole time, and I meant it.
Speaker 1: I really wanted to get to you know you today,
Speaker 1: and I'm grateful let you let us do that. So
Speaker 1: thank you so much. If you want even more videos
Speaker 1: just like this one, make sure you subscribe and click
Speaker 1: on the boxes over here. I'm also excited to let
Speaker 1: you know that you can now get my book Think
Speaker 1: Like a Monk from thinkli a monkbook dot com. Check
Speaker 1: below in the description to make sure you order today.