Maitreyi Ramakrishnan Admits She Trolled Reporters On Whether She’s Team Paxton Or Team Ben

Narcity USA

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.

Transcript

00:00Why are these people saying that she trolled us?

00:02You swapped me to Team Paxton.

00:04I'm just switching up because I feel like people don't really believe that I am Team Davey.

00:09Robbie P was the info.

00:11She said Twilight Corp.

00:12Yes!

00:13What's up, Narcidi?

00:14Guess who we're with?

00:16Hello.

00:16It is I.

00:18My trait.

00:18So many actors, especially Canadian actors, they move to LA or Hollywood or New York the

00:23minute that their career really takes off and their career has definitely taken off,

00:26but you're still in Saga.

00:28Why did you stay in Ontario and, you know, what's that important to you?

00:31I mean, like, I get the move.

00:33It makes sense.

00:34I understand, you know, it's sometimes easier to be, like, where, you know, chaos is.

00:39But for me, like, family and my, like, friends, they're all here.

00:44That's, like, what grounds me.

00:45That's what keeps me, like, sane.

00:47In the end, we're all gonna die.

00:50So we might as well be around people we love doing things that we love.

00:54Maybe I'll get out of Saga and I'll go to Toronto.

00:56We love it.

00:57I have asked, is it true that you're still going to York University?

00:59I can hold a fork, so I go to York.

01:01It is true.

01:03Human Rights and Equity Studies.

01:05Yeah, that is the degree.

01:06And do you think that you'll move away from acting and maybe into advocacy in your future?

01:10No.

01:12Like, hear me out.

01:13I was like, no.

01:14Advocacy?

01:15No.

01:16I think that's just something I will inherently always do.

01:19Like, as just a human being.

01:21Especially as a human being that is also a brown woman, right?

01:25In a career that has my face be a part of the brand.

01:29So advocacy is something that I'll always care about.

01:31And I would hope other people care about, you know?

01:34But acting is what I love to do.

01:36Like, that is my career.

01:37Having the privilege to go to post-secondary.

01:40Being able to afford post-secondary.

01:42Because it is a very privileged, you know, time for people.

01:46So because I can, that is why I'm doing it.

01:49I do just like to learn.

01:51So, yeah.

01:51I think that's incredible.

01:52And you are such an advocate for representation on screen.

01:55Thanks.

01:55I want to ask, you know, some fans on Twitter have called out, you know,

01:57Mindy Kaling for her brown characters always ending up with white male leads.

02:01And I want to talk to you about that.

02:02Yeah.

02:03About how South Asian women in Hollywood are so harshly critiqued on these things.

02:06I mean, women of color, for sure, are always harshly critiqued for

02:12anything.

02:13There will always be a reason to critique.

02:15And for Mindy, she's writing from what she knows.

02:19These are her stories.

02:20People can have an issue with that.

02:21And that's fine.

02:22That's, everyone's entitled to their opinion.

02:25But you can't take away from someone's lived experience or the story that they want to tell.

02:31That is Mindy's choice.

02:33If she wrote just to appease other people, I think that,

02:36A, it wouldn't be fulfilling for her.

02:38And that's just kind of sad.

02:39You're just writing for the sake of others and not for yourself as a creative.

02:44But B, it probably wouldn't be as authentic.

02:47Because it wouldn't come from her.

02:49Instead of first and foremost getting mad at Mindy,

02:52who really works hard and does truly have my respect,

02:55why don't we get mad at the people who make it so hard for women

02:58who look like Mindy and I to be at Mindy's level?

03:01That's the problem.

03:02If we had more people who look like Mindy at her level,

03:05then I'm sure we would have so many stories.

03:07Because Mindy can have her types.

03:09I mean, I love brown men.

03:11Let's just put it out there.

03:12We've talked about this before.

03:13Yeah, we have.

03:13We have.

03:14I'm all about a South Asian man.

03:16Des let me down.

03:17Okay?

03:18I was rooting.

03:19I was also rooting for him.

03:21But regardless, I digress.

03:23If we had more people at Mindy's level,

03:26then I think people would be a little bit more easy on her.

03:28But alas, that's not the case.

03:31I get it as in people, not every single South Asian girl can relate to me,

03:35and that's fine.

03:37I don't expect every single one to.

03:39I think that that would be just unrealistic.

03:41No.

03:41I can only do what I can, right?

03:43And hope that other people come along the way and, you know,

03:47people get the option to pick and choose who they feel represented by.

03:50In short, don't get mad at the woman of color.

03:54Let's like look a little deeper at the people who are creating barriers.

03:58So we had an interview a couple weeks ago.

04:00I think you told me a little.

04:02So we got to get into it.

04:04I asked you, were you team Ben or team Paxton?

04:06What did I tell you?

04:07You told me team Paxton.

04:08We told somebody else team Ben.

04:11Okay, this is the first time I'm getting confronted about this.

04:14Yeah, this is a confrontation.

04:15Do you feel betrayed?

04:17I do because I'm such a big fan of you.

04:19And when you put that tweet out that said,

04:21interviewers, please ask me this.

04:23I sent it.

04:23My producer Josh and boss is behind.

04:25I was like, I'm so excited to ask her this.

04:29Yeah, I lied.

04:32To everyone, not just you.

04:33I don't know.

04:34I just kept switching and I would make a passionate argument for each side.

04:38I was convinced.

04:38See, you swapped me to team Paxton.

04:41I was like, 100%.

04:42These arguments are all so valid.

04:44I'm just switching up because I feel like people don't really believe that I am team Davey.

04:49I mean, Davey is the center of the show.

04:52I'm all about like, you know, her and her journey as just like an individual.

04:57In interviews ever since the beginning, I've always talked about her self-love journey.

05:01I think both Ben and Paxton are great characters.

05:04But I just think like, Davey, you can do better than the high school sweetheart.

05:08Girl, come on.

05:10Like, you know, but like, I did have fun seeing fans react.

05:16Chaos ensued.

05:18I know.

05:18I was looking at the comments on the video that we did together and I was like,

05:21why are these people saying that she trolled us?

05:23I trolled everyone and I would do it again.

05:27Honestly, I like that.

05:28When people say like, oh, she's so much so like Davey.

05:31If I've ever done anything in my career thus far that is very Davey-esque, it was that.

05:35I love it.

05:36It's also kind of like being Robert Pattinson.

05:37I don't know if you, how he always like-

05:39Oh my God.

05:39Yes, you get me.

05:41That was the info.

05:42Rob, Robby P was the info.

05:45She said Twilight Court.

05:46Yes.

05:47No, next, next like gig that I get, next press tour,

05:50I'm going to make some lie about the fact like that I don't shower like Robby P.

05:54He like lied about the fact that like he doesn't shower.

05:56Obviously he does.

05:58He's like a face for like a whole perfume.

06:00He probably smells really good.

06:02I mean, I'd take a whiff.

06:04I'd take a whiff.

06:05I'd take a whiff of Robby P.

06:06Well, you basically just graduated Never Have I Ever.

06:08We've had this amazing season's run.

06:11I love the finale.

06:13And now looking towards the future,

06:14I know you've talked about wanting to do a live action Tangled Rapunzel.

06:18We've heard all about it, but who would you fan cast as your Flynn Rider?

06:22It has to be a fan of like, you know, Tangled.

06:25You can't just like be a hot guy.

06:28Flynn is not just a hot guy.

06:30Okay.

06:30Good old Eugene.

06:31No, he is someone who like knows he's attractive,

06:34but deep down has a lot of insecurities, you know?

06:37No, he's got layers.

06:38He's got layers.

06:39The smirk.

06:40The smolder.

06:41The smolder.

06:42The smolder.

06:43So I don't, I generally don't have an answer for that.

06:46I mean, I got to get my foot in the door first.

06:48You're like, I got to get in first.

06:50But it has to be someone who's a fan and it has to be,

06:54yeah, it has to be a good personality matched in.

06:57Yeah.

06:58Absolutely.

06:58And you know, your fans are so passionate.

07:01You are, you're an icon.

07:02You're so well loved.

07:04I'm an icon, but thank you.

07:06Absolutely.

07:07How does it feel to have your fans support you so much on your journey and wanting to be Rapunzel?

07:11I straight up cry.

07:14I cried in Brazil while I was backstage in the middle of like the Tudum festival,

07:20because I saw on Twitter that someone made a sign that said,

07:23you can be my Rapunzel.

07:25And I saw like another fan in front of them,

07:27like holding up the flashlight to like illuminate the sign for them.

07:32And then like all the fans have been saying like,

07:34you can be my Rapunzel, like the people Rapunzel and all that.

07:37And like that, regardless of, you know, anything like that is so sweet.

07:41Because putting your dreams out there is very scary.

07:43It takes a lot of courage.

07:45So it's really kind to have people embrace your dream and let you dream, right?

07:51Like, yeah, people can be kind of mean at times when it's just like truly it's a dream.

07:56And if it happens, it's even better.

07:59Suck it up.

07:59It's even better.

08:00Even better.

08:01But I'm not going to let anyone tell me I can't dream.

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