If you’ve watched Never Have I Ever (if you haven’t, where’ve you been girl!?) you’ll know the Netflix show is full of relatable life lessons, particularly for teens navigating their way through high school.
WATCH: Never Have I Ever‘s official trailer:
But what we love most about the show is that 15-year-old Devi, the show’s main character is a wealth of wisdom in her own right – as is the incredibly talented actress who plays her, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan.
Devi’s character arch covers topics of personal growth, discrimination, coming-of-age and dealing with grief. Based loosely on comedian and creator Mindy Kaling’s upbringing in Boston, teenage Devi is of Indian-American Tamil heritage. When her father dies, she loses the use of her legs for a year. But as she continues her recovery into sophomore year, she decides to change her social status at school.
Girlfriend had the privilege to sit down with Maitreyi ahead of Never Have I Ever season 2’s release on Netflix. Above anything else, the 19-year-old reiterated one key message for like-minded teens to take away from the teen-comedy drama.
That perfect line?
“Remember that you are a work in progress, so it is okay to not be perfect. You’re still growing, so don’t be so hard on yourself,” she told Girlfriend.
And Maitreyi was the first to admit that she herself still has a lot of growing to do.
“There’s times I’m definitely not confident,” she explained.
“I’ve realised that for a lot of my life, I didn’t really know my worth and I didn’t really care too much about myself, or appreciate myself for my talents and skills and interests.
“I used to joke and say ‘If I ever met myself, I would hate them’. That shouldn’t be the case! If you ever met yourself you should be like, ‘Damn, I wanna marry you!'”
Another element that’s given the show widespread recognition is the way it breaks down Asian stereotypes.
Maitreyi told us that’s something she’s super proud of being a part of, but raw as ever, she reckons there’s still work to be done.
“Even if [Never Have I Ever] was in hour long episodes you can only tackle so much,” she explained to us.
“So there’s a lot that we can still do [in diversity and breaking down stereotypes] for sure, Hollywood in general too of course. It’s important to remember that there’s always room to improve.”
For someone aged just 19, Maitreyi has learned a lot.
That’s why when we asked her for any parting words of advice, bestie had our backs.
“You got this, you’re doing alright, you’re doing okay,” she said.
You can watch Never Have I Ever season 2 on Netflix here.
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