Maitreyi Ramakrishnan has played teen characters, who are nothing short of relatable; whether it be her breakout role as the angsty Devi in Never Have I Ever, which will soon be premiering Season 3 along with a fourth and final season, or as the emo Priya in the animated flick, Turning Red (Read Pinkvilla's review HERE!), which has been winning hearts all across the globe. Moreover, it's Maitreyi's real life personality, too, that has many young fans consider her to be a role model.
In an EXCLUSIVE tête-à-tête with Pinkvilla to promote Turning Red, I asked Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, who recently turned 20 and said goodbye to her teen self, how she looks back at her teenage years. "Aww, man! I think it's crazy because like, yeah, now I'm not a teen, we're twenty. Wow! So old. No, I'm still a young adult. I'm still a dweeb, just like my teen self, let's be real. But when I look back at my teen years, you realise how much happened so quickly. You go through so much and you're growing so fast. And even in my thirties, hopefully, I'm still happily acting," Maitreyi confessed.
"I think I'll always pull back from those emotions from when I was a teen because they were so strong; whether it was the really strong feeling of being happy and just feeling like I'm conquering the world or to having an absolute meltdown. When you're a teenager with so much angst, you have all of these feelings right on your sleeve. And I think I'll always pull from that in my acting career because that's some pretty raw emotion right there," Ramakrishnan revealed.
Furthermore, I brought up how Turning Red's lead protagonist Mei (voiced by Rosalie Chiang) turns into a giant red panda due to her extreme emotions. Hence, does Maitreyi have a primary emotion that drives her? "I mean, I don't know about a primary emotion, like one leading one that takes over all the others because I think all emotions, if strong enough, can just lead you. Being an actor, especially, that sort of requires me to have all the different kind of emotions," Ramakrishnan admitted before concluding, "So I don't think there's one primary one, but definitely, I am someone who wears her heart on her sleeve. I am very much so myself. So, yeah, I have a lots of strong emotions, so I can definitely relate to Mei's panda explosions."
When you're a teenager with so much angst, you have all of these feelings right on your sleeve. And I think I'll always pull from that in my acting career because that's some pretty raw emotion right there.
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan
Watch Maitreyi Ramakrishnan's interview with Pinkvilla for Turning Red below:
Like we needed another reason to relate to Maitreyi Ramakrishnan!
What did you think of Maitreyi Ramakrishnan's voice acting as Priya in Turning Red? Moreover, how excited are you for Never Have I Ever Season 3? Share your review and excitement with Pinkvilla in the comments section below.