Like everyone else in the world, at the end of the day, I lay on my sofa, turn on the TV, and say: “Uch, there’s nothing to watch.” Which is insane because there’s clearly thousands of things to watch. But it feels like there’s nothing to make you sit up, lean forward, and say, “Wow, I’ve never seen that before.” But that’s exactly how I felt when I saw Ambika Mod in the Netflix miniseries One Day. Ambika’s character, Emma, is at the heart of this sweeping love story, which had the distinction of making millions of people weep uncontrollably, internationally, when it dropped. And even though I was one of those weeping people, I was also struck by how deeply funny Ambika was. Her Emma had so many unexpected qualities: she was cynical, goofy, vulnerable, and sexy. I was immediately googling Ambika to find out more. And I think that’s when I knew I was a fan for life, when I lay on my sofa in the dark, disappearing into an online spiral to find out what’s next for Ambika Mod.
Kaling is an actor and an Emmy-nominated producer and writer
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