Congratulations on Fargo! What has the experience been like so far?

Thank you! I feel incredibly grateful and fortunate to be a part of something that is a dream for so many actors and other artists to be a part of. Getting to work with some of the most talented but also just the most wonderful human beings has been an experience that has taught me invaluable lessons and has permanently changed me.

You helped build Never Have I Ever as a franchise itself, whereas you joined Fargo on its fifth season. How has it been joining a show at this stage in its development?

It was very intimidating to be honest- I had a lot of self-doubt and nerves going into it. I knew that Fargo had the reputation for having the most high caliber talent and I had big shoes to fill- especially coming into a role that has been previously portrayed by actors like Frances McDormand and Alison Toleman. But immediately after booking the role, I got calls from Noah Hawley and the other EPs who welcomed me with so much love to the Fargo family and made me feel like I belonged. I feel so honored to have joined the Fargo universe, and it’s truly given me the gift of never doubting myself.

Accents are so definitive of their place and their characters. What was it like to develop an Indian accent for Never Have I ever?

The way a person speaks says a lot about who they are, where they come from and how they show up in the world. It’s integral to my process of creating an authentic character, and also I find it to be the part that is the most fun. The accent I did for NHIE was very natural for me, as I grew up hearing that accent all around me in my family and community. However my accent for Fargo was something totally different and new to me, and I loved the challenge.

A lot of the time, actors can feel typecasted by ethnic accents. Did you feel this way about Kamala’s accent? Or did it feel natural for her character?

What I loved about the accent I was asked to do for Kamala was that it was never meant to be funny. In the past (and even still sometimes) South Asian characters have been inserted into stories for comedic purposes with their accent being the punch line. With Kamala, although she is funny without trying to be, her accent is just a part of who she is, and it was always my intention to honor that and make it as authentic as possible. To be honest, after a while, I almost didn’t even think about doing the accent, it was more of an afterthought.

I’m from New Jersey which is super populated with Indian immigrants, similar to the Bay area. What do you think shows like Never Have I ever mean for first-generation kids in these communities?

The show was actually set in Sherman Oaks, here in Los Angeles! It’s the first American mainstream show to center an Indian American family, specifically a South Indian family, and it has been incredibly groundbreaking for my community in every single way. There’s so much of the show that reflects my own experience of being a child of Indian immigrants, and it would honestly feel surreal at times to be on set. I would often just sit and revel at my surroundings in disbelief that I was on an American television set. The stories I’ve heard from BOTH young and older generations of South Asians in this country (and people around the world) about feeling seen and represented in ways they’ve never felt before have been incredibly moving and continue to give me so much joy. That is a big part of my mission as an artist – to pave the way for future generations of South Asian artists and to put my community and our glorious culture in the spotlight.