Maitreyi Ramakrishnan Admits She Trolled Reporters On Whether She’s Team Paxton Or Team Ben. Narcity's Brooke Houghton sat down with “Never Have I Ever” actress Maitreyi Ramakrishnan to talk about her Dream Cookies collaboration with Tim Hortons, her Robert Pattinson-inspired trolling, her dream of playing Rapunzel, and why she still lives in Mississauga, Ontario. Ramakrishnan also addressed the backlash Mindy Kaling has faced over her brown female characters ending up with white male leads.
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00:00 Why are these people saying that she trolled us?
00:02 You swapped me to Team Paxton!
00:04 I'm just switching up because I feel like people don't really believe that I am Team Devi.
00:09 Robby P was the info!
00:11 She said Twilight Core.
00:12 Yes!
00:13 What's up, Narcity?
00:14 Guess who we're with!
00:15 Hello!
00:16 It is I.
00:17 My treat.
00:18 So many actors, especially Canadian actors,
00:21 they move to LA or Hollywood or New York the minute that their career really takes off.
00:25 And your career has definitely taken off, but you're still in Saga.
00:28 Why did you stay in Ontario and, you know, why is that important to you?
00:31 I mean, like, I get the move.
00:33 It makes sense.
00:34 I understand, you know, it's sometimes easier to be like where, you know, chaos is.
00:39 But for me, like, family and my, like, friends, they're all here.
00:43 That's like what grounds me.
00:45 That's what keeps me, like, sane.
00:47 In the end, we're all gonna die.
00:49 So we might as well be around people we love doing things that we love.
00:54 Maybe I'll get out of Saga and I'll go to Toronto.
00:56 We love it.
00:57 I have asked, is it true that you're still going to York University?
00:59 I can hold a fork so I go to York.
01:01 It is true.
01:02 Human Rights and Equity Studies.
01:05 Yeah, that is the degree.
01:06 And do you think that you'll move away from acting and maybe into advocacy in your future?
01:10 No.
01:11 Like, hear me out.
01:13 I was like, no.
01:13 Advocacy?
01:15 No.
01:16 I think that's just something I will inherently always do, like, as just a human being,
01:21 especially as a human being that is also a brown woman, right,
01:25 in a career that has my face be a part of the brand.
01:29 So advocacy is something that I'll always care about and I would hope other people care about,
01:34 you know?
01:34 But acting is what I love to do.
01:36 That is my career.
01:37 Having the privilege to go to post-secondary,
01:40 be able to afford post-secondary because it is a very privileged, you know, time for people.
01:46 So because I can, that is why I'm doing it.
01:49 I do just like to learn.
01:50 So, yeah.
01:51 I think that's incredible.
01:52 And you are such an advocate and for representation on screen.
01:55 Thank you.
01:55 I want to ask, you know, some fans on Twitter have called out, you know,
01:57 Mindy Kaling for her brown characters always ending up with white melodies.
02:01 And I want to talk to you about that.
02:02 Yeah.
02:03 About how South Asian women in Hollywood are so harshly critiqued on these things.
02:06 I mean, women of color, for sure, are always harshly critiqued for anything.
02:13 There will always be a reason to critique.
02:15 And for Mindy, she's writing from what she knows.
02:19 These are her stories.
02:20 People can have an issue with that and that's fine.
02:22 That's, everyone's entitled to their opinion.
02:24 But you can't take away from someone's lived experience or the story that they want to tell.
02:31 That is Mindy's choice.
02:33 If she wrote just to appease other people, I think that, A, it wouldn't be fulfilling for her.
02:38 And that's just kind of sad.
02:39 You're just writing for the sake of others and not for yourself as a creative.
02:44 But B, it probably wouldn't be as authentic because it wouldn't come from her.
02:49 Instead of first and foremost getting mad at Mindy, who really works hard
02:53 and does truly have my respect, why don't we get mad at the people who make it so hard
02:57 for women who look like Mindy and I to be at Mindy's level?
03:01 That's the problem.
03:02 If we had more people who look like Mindy at her level,
03:05 then I'm sure we would have so many stories.
03:07 Because Mindy can have her types.
03:09 I mean, I love brown men.
03:11 Let's just put it out there.
03:12 We've talked about this before.
03:13 Yes, we have.
03:13 We have.
03:14 I'm all about a South Asian man.
03:16 Des let me down.
03:17 Okay?
03:18 I was rooting.
03:19 I was also rooting.
03:19 I was rooting for him.
03:21 But regardless, I take rest.
03:23 If we had more people at Mindy's level,
03:25 then I think people would be a little bit more easy on her.
03:28 But alas, that's not the case.
03:31 I get it as in people, not every single South Asian girl can relate to me and that's fine.
03:36 I don't expect every single one to.
03:39 I think that would be just unrealistic.
03:41 No.
03:41 I can only do what I can, right?
03:43 And hope that other people come along the way and, you know,
03:47 people get the option to pick and choose who they feel represented by.
03:50 In short, don't get mad at the women of color.
03:54 Let's like look a little deeper at the people who are creating barriers.
03:58 So we had an interview a couple weeks ago.
04:00 I think you told me a little.
04:01 So we got to get into it.
04:03 I asked you, were you team Ben or team Paxton?
04:06 What did I tell you?
04:07 You told me team Paxton.
04:08 We told somebody else team Ben.
04:10 Okay, this is the first time I'm getting confronted about this.
04:14 Yeah, this is a confrontation.
04:15 Do you feel betrayed?
04:17 I do because I'm such a big fan of you.
04:19 And when you put that tweet out that said,
04:21 "Interviewers, please ask me this."
04:23 I sent it.
04:23 My producer Josh and boss is behind.
04:25 I was like, I'm so excited to ask her this.
04:28 Yeah, I lied.
04:30 It's everyone, not just you.
04:33 I don't know.
04:34 I just kept switching and I would make a passionate argument for each side.
04:38 I was convinced.
04:38 You swapped me to team Paxton.
04:41 I was like 100%.
04:41 Your arguments are all so valid.
04:43 I'm just switching up because I feel like people don't really believe that I am team Devi.
04:50 Devi is the center of the show.
04:52 I'm all about her and her journey as just an individual.
04:57 In interviews ever since the beginning, I've always talked about her self-love journey.
05:01 I think both Ben and Paxton are great characters.
05:04 But I just think, Devi, you can do better than the high school sweetheart.
05:08 Girl, come on.
05:09 So true.
05:11 You know?
05:11 But I did have fun seeing fans react.
05:16 Chaos ensued.
05:17 I know.
05:18 I was looking at the comments on the video that we did together on our team and I was like,
05:21 "Why are these people saying that she trolled us?"
05:23 I trolled everyone and I would do it again.
05:27 Honestly, I like that.
05:28 When people say like, "Oh, she's so much so like Devi."
05:31 If I've ever done anything in my career thus far that is very Devi-esque, it was that.
05:35 I love it.
05:36 It's also kind of being Robert Pattinson.
05:37 I don't know if you know, he always flies at interviews.
05:40 You get me.
05:41 That was the info.
05:42 Robby P was the info.
05:45 She said Twilight Core.
05:46 Yes.
05:47 No, next gig that I get, next press tour, I'm going to make some lie about the fact
05:52 that I don't shower like Robby P.
05:53 He lied about the fact that he doesn't shower.
05:56 Obviously, he does.
05:58 He's a face for a whole perfume.
06:00 He probably smells really good.
06:02 I mean, I'd take a whiff.
06:04 I'd take a whiff.
06:05 I'd take a whiff of Robby P.
06:06 Well, you basically just graduated.
06:08 Never have I ever.
06:08 We've had this amazing season's run.
06:11 I love the finale.
06:13 Now, looking towards the future, I know you've talked about wanting to do
06:16 a live action Tangled Rapunzel.
06:18 We've heard all about it.
06:20 But who would you fan cast as your Flynn Rider?
06:22 I have to be a fan of Tangled.
06:25 You can't just be a hot guy.
06:28 Flynn is not just a hot guy, OK, good old Eugene?
06:31 No.
06:31 He is someone who knows he's attractive, but deep down has a lot of insecurities.
06:36 You know?
06:37 No, he's got layers.
06:38 He's got layers.
06:39 The smirk.
06:40 The smolder.
06:41 The smolder.
06:42 The smolder.
06:43 So I don't-- I generally don't have an answer for that.
06:46 I mean, I got to get my foot in the door first.
06:48 You're like, I got to get in first.
06:50 But it has to be someone who's a fan.
06:51 And it has to be-- yeah, it has to be a good personality matched in.
06:57 Yeah.
06:58 Absolutely.
06:58 And you know, your fans are so passionate.
07:01 You are-- you're an icon.
07:02 You're so well-loved.
07:03 Thank you.
07:04 I'm not an icon, but thank you.
07:05 Absolutely.
07:07 How does it feel to have your fans support you so much on your journey and wanting to
07:10 be Rapunzel?
07:11 I straight up cried.
07:13 I cried in Brazil while I was backstage in the middle of the Tadum Festival.
07:20 Because I saw on Twitter that someone made a sign that said, "You can be my Rapunzel."
07:25 And I saw another fan in front of them holding up the flashlight to illuminate the sign for
07:31 them.
07:32 And then all the fans have been saying, "You can be my Rapunzel," "The people's Rapunzel,"
07:37 and all that.
07:37 And that, regardless of anything, that is so sweet.
07:41 Because putting your dreams out there is very scary.
07:43 It takes a lot of courage.
07:44 So it's really kind to have people embrace your dream and let you dream, all right?
07:51 Like, yeah, people can be kind of mean at times, but it's just like truly it's a dream.
07:56 And if it happens, it's even better.
07:59 Suck it up.
08:00 It's even better.
08:00 Even better.
08:01 But I'm not going to let anyone tell me I can't dream.
08:04 (upbeat music)