"Never Have I Ever" star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan on representation and her dream role of playing Rapunzel

In Netflix's hit comedy "Never Have I Ever," Maitreyi Ramakrishnan stars as Devi, an Indian-American teenager, who, in the midst of dealing with the death of her beloved father and a complicated relationship with her mother, is focused on one thing: falling in love.

Behind the camera, Ramakrishnan's own life could be a television show. The 19-year-old was still in high school when she was handpicked by Mindy Kaling to star as the lead in her show "Never Have I Ever," beating out 15,000 actors at a casting call and thrusting her into stardom. The show's first season premiered last April in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, becoming a sleeper hit for those quarantined at home.  The show's second season premiered Thursday and re-introduced viewers to both old and new characters dealing with an entirely new problem: Devi's love triangle between her awkward ex-nemesis and longtime crush. The show focuses on Devi's coming of age and just how complicated life can be for kids of color.