Maitreyi Ramakrishnan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Maitreyi Ramakrishnan
Ramakrishnan in 2023
Born	(2001-12-28) 28 December 2001 (age 23) Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2019–present

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (born December 28, 2001) is a Canadian actress. She became famous for her main role as high school student Devi Vishwakumar. This was in the Netflix teen comedy series Never Have I Ever, which ran from 2020 to 2023. She also lent her voice to characters in the Pixar movie Turning Red (2022). Her voice can also be heard in the animated series My Little Pony: Make Your Mark (2022–2023) and My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale (2022–2024).

Early life and education

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan was born on December 28, 2001, in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. She grew up in Mississauga. Her parents are Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus. They moved to Canada from Sri Lanka because of a civil war there. Maitreyi sees herself as Tamil Canadian. She went to Lisgar Middle School and later graduated from Meadowvale Secondary School.

In her last year of high school, Maitreyi decided she wanted to be an actress. Less than a year later, she got her big role in the Netflix series Never Have I Ever. She had planned to study theatre at York University in Toronto. However, she put off her university plans to film the series in Los Angeles. In 2021, she delayed university again. She also changed her major to human rights and equity studies.

Career highlights

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan in 2021

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan started her acting career as Devi Vishwakumar. Devi is the main character in the Netflix teen comedy-drama series Never Have I Ever. In 2019, the show's creator, Mindy Kaling, chose Maitreyi from 15,000 people. These people had applied for an open casting call for the show.

Maitreyi made her audition video at a local library. She used her mother's camera for the recording. She was asked to send four more videos. After that, she had a screen test in Los Angeles and got the part. Maitreyi was 17 years old when she was cast. She had never acted professionally before. She shared that watching Indian actor Vijay in the Tamil-language film Pokkiri inspired her to act. Her casting got a lot of attention, especially in Canada. This was because of the open casting call and her Tamil Canadian background. Today magazine named her one of eighteen "Groundbreakers" in 2019. This list honored girls who were breaking barriers and "changing the world."

Never Have I Ever and early recognition

In April 2020, Never Have I Ever first appeared on Netflix. Maitreyi's character, Devi Vishwakumar, is an Indian-American Tamil high school student. The character is loosely based on Mindy Kaling's own experiences. The show ran for four seasons and ended in June 2023.

Both the series and Maitreyi's acting received good reviews. Variety magazine called her performance a "breakout." She was nominated for several awards, including an Independent Spirit Award and an MTV Movie & TV Award. In July 2020, Netflix announced that 40 million households worldwide had watched the series. In February 2021, Time magazine included Maitreyi on its Time100 Next list. This list features the next hundred influential people.

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan in 2023

Voice acting and future projects

Maitreyi voiced Priya Mangal in the Pixar animated movie Turning Red. Priya is an Indian-Canadian girl who is calm and has a dry sense of humor. The film was released on March 11, 2022, on Disney+ and in some theaters.

Maitreyi also voices Zipp Storm in the My Little Pony franchise. She voiced Zipp in the web series My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale, which started in April 2022. She also voiced the character for the Netflix animated series, My Little Pony: Make Your Mark, which began in September 2022. In April 2022, Maitreyi received the Radius Award from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. This award recognized her global impact on television.

Maitreyi will star in the movie Freakier Friday in 2025. She will also be part of a group of female actors in the drama Slanted. This movie started filming in June 2024. Maitreyi has also agreed to co-lead a Netflix romantic comedy film. It is called The Netherfield Girls and is a modern version of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice.

Other activities

In March 2022, Maitreyi was part of a spring campaign for the clothing store American Eagle. The campaign was called "Members Always: Future Together."

In October 2020, Maitreyi became a global ambassador for Plan International Canada. She helps promote girls' and women's rights and gender equality. In 2021, she was part of a campaign for the clothing brand Nobis. This campaign, called #NoColdShoulder, collects and donates used jackets every November.

Filmography

Key

Denotes films and series that have not yet been released

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

See also

In Spanish: Maitreyi Ramakrishnan para niños

• South Asian Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area
• List of Tamil people