Ambika Mod
Ambika Bhakti Mod (born 2 October 1995)[1][2] is a British actress, comedian and writer. She is best known for her roles as Shruti Acharya in the BBC drama series This Is Going to Hurt (2022) and Emma Morley in the Netflix miniseries One Day (2024).
Ambika Mod | |
|---|---|
Mod in 2022 | |
| Born | Ambika Bhakti Mod 2 October 1995 (age 28) Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England |
| Alma mater | St Mary's College, Durham (BA) |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, comedian, writer |
| Years active | 2019–present |
Early life and education edit
Mod grew up in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire.[3] She is the daughter of Indian immigrants; her mother arrived in the UK as a child, and her father arrived in his 20s.[4] Mod attended Dame Alice Owen's School.[5] She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Studies from St Mary's College, Durham.[6]
Early in her career, Mod worked as a personal assistant at Condé Nast as her day job while doing comedy at night.[4][7] She studied acting at Theatrix Performing Arts of St Albans, based at the Abbey Theatre, St Albans. At Durham, she agreed and did sketch comedy through the university's Revue,[8] performing with Tom Harper at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and serving as the troupe's president in 2017.[9] She also performs improvised comedy at The Free Association in London. She formed a duo, Megan from HR, with Andrew Shires.[10][11] She performs regularly at improvised comedy theatre The Free Association in London.[12]
Career edit
Following a series of short films, which consisted of Fair Bnb, Granddaughter, The Sacrifice (aka Leila Margot) and Pet Name,[13] in 2022 Mod appeared as a struggling junior doctor alongside Ben Whishaw in Adam Kay’s medical comedy-drama, This Is Going to Hurt, based on his memoir of the same name.[14] The series, based on the experiences of doctors working in gynaecology and obstetrics, earned critical acclaim.[15] The Hollywood Reporter’s Daniel Fienberg praised Mod as the highlight among the "regular female characters" and added that she made "Shruti’s earnest fragility into the show’s true heart"; however, he also added that her character is used more as a catalyst for Kay's actions.[16] Mod received the Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actress.[17]
In 2024, Mod portrayed Emma Morley opposite Leo Woodall in Netflix's One Day, based on David Nicholls' novel of the same name.[18] It tells the story of two young people who meet annually for 20 years following a platonic one-night stand. Mod initially declined the role due to the intense nature of her role in This Is Going to Hurt forming doubts about her ability to play a romantic lead.[19][20] Reflecting on her original decision, she said, "I think part of the reason why I just didn’t see myself playing that part was because insidiously and implicitly, that’s a message that I’ve been fed my entire life—that people who look like me aren’t romantic leads, that people who look like me aren’t the people who the male romantic lead will fall in love with".[21] The series, along with her performance, received critical acclaim and the role proved to be a major breakthrough in her career.[22][23] It was the most-watched series globally during the week of February 12, with 9.9 million views.[24] Writing for The Guardian, Chitra Ramaswamy lauded Mod as a "revelation", and said, "It is hard to believe this is her first lead role".[25] While discussing her character's alteration in ethnicity from the novel and film, she expressed her hope that it would "open people's minds a little bit", and said she was "aware how significant it will be to a lot of people, especially young women of colour, young South Asian women in particular".[26]
Mod will next appear in a lead role in the Disney+ thriller series Playdate.[27]
Filmography edit
Film edit
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Fair Bnb | Izzy | Short film |
| 2019 | Granddaughter | Phoebe | Short film |
| 2020 | The Sacrifice (aka Leila Margot) | Rukhsana | Short film |
| 2022 | Pet Name | Sophie | Short film |
Television edit
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | The Mash Report | Sarah / Average Young Person | Episode 6 |
| 2020 | The B@it | Samantha | Episode: "Ending other people's relationships" |
| 2021 | Trying | Usher | Episode: "I'm Scared" |
| 2022 | This Is Going to Hurt | Shruti Acharya | 7 episodes |
| Martin Fishback | Samah | Television pilot | |
| I Hate Suzie | Una Finch | 2 episodes | |
| 2024 | One Day | Emma Morley | 14 episodes |
| TBA | Playdate | Selma Desai | In production |
Stage edit
| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Cirque du Sillý | Self | Edinburgh Fringe Festival |
| 2019 | Children of the Quorn | Self | Edinburgh Fringe Festival |
Podcasts edit
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Doctor Who: Redacted | Captain Chopra | Episode: "Rescue" |
Awards and nominations edit
| Year | Association | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Funny Women Awards | — | — | Semi-finalist | [28] |
| 2022 | Edinburgh Television Festival | Breakthrough Talent | — | Nominated | [29] |
| 2023 | Broadcasting Press Guild Awards | Best Actress | This Is Going to Hurt | Won | [30] |
| Royal Television Society Programme Awards | Supporting Actor – Female | Won | [31] |
References edit
- ^ "Ambika Mod: Character of Shruti in BBC's This Is Going To Hurt is important". Barry And District News. 11 February 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
- ^ Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall From One Day Take The BFF Test Test, retrieved 9 February 2024
- ^ "Stage Awards Semi-Finalists 2020". Women Funny Awards. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ a b Mulkerrins, Jane (5 March 2022). "This Is Going to Hurt's Ambika Mod: 'I have really bad anxiety'". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ "Old Owenian performs at the Fringe!" (PDF). Old Owenians Newsletter: 8. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ "Catching up with Ambika Mod". DST First Night. 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ Healy, Rachael (22 February 2022). "This Is Going to Hurt's Ambika Mod: 'Whenever I did a caesarean I was buzzing!'". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ Wall, Natalie (4 March 2016). "The Durham Revue's Ambika Mod!". Her Campus. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ "Durham Revue team up with Cambridge Footlights for 'ComedyFest!". Durham University. 10 February 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ Brown, Keira (25 August 2019). . The Fountain. Archived from the original on 11 February 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ Iftikhar, Asyia (9 February 2022). "Ambika Mod Is "Pretty Confident" She Could Do A C-Section IRL". Bustle. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ "Harold Night". 3 May 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2022.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Obsessed with Ambika Mod in One Day? Here's all her other projects you need to watch". Cosmopolitan. 12 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ Morris, Lauren (16 February 2022). "Meet the cast of BBC One's This Is Going to Hurt". Radio Times. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
- ^ "This Is Going to Hurt Is the Best Medical Drama in Years". TIME. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
- ^ Fienberg, Daniel (1 June 2022). "Ben Whishaw in AMC+'s 'This Is Going to Hurt': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
- ^ "2023 Awards". 7 February 2024.
- ^ "Meet the 'One Day' Netflix cast, from Ambika Mod to White Lotus star Leo Woodall". Glamour UK. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
- ^ "One Day's Ambika Mod on why she initially turned down playing Emma". Cosmopolitan. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ "Ambika Mod on playing Emma in new Netflix series One Day". Watford Observer. 7 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
- ^ "Ambika Mod Didn't See Herself as a Romantic Lead. Then 'One Day' Happened". ELLE. 16 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ "'One Day' is one of this year's defining cultural moments". Glamour UK. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
- ^ Barr, Sabrina (11 February 2024). "Wondering why One Day actress playing Emma has you sobbing? Here's why". Retrieved 18 February 2024.
- ^ Seitz, Loree (20 February 2024). "One Day, Love is Blind Season 6 Lure Netflix TV Viewers". TheWrap. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
- ^ Ramaswamy, Chitra (6 February 2024). "One Day review – a flawless romcom you'll fall for, hard". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
- ^ "One Day: I rarely saw people like me in lead roles, says Ambika Mod". BBC News. 8 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
- ^ "Obsessed with Ambika Mod in One Day? Here's all her other projects you need to watch". Cosmopolitan. 12 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
- ^ "2020 Stage Awards Semi-Finalists Announced!". Funny Women. 4 August 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
- ^ @EdinburghTVFest (16 June 2022). "Our nominees for Breakthrough Talent- Actor🎭 📺 @ambikamod 📺 @DLMacdonald19 📺 Dipo Ola 📺 @GambaCole #EdTVAwards" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "2023 Awards". 7 February 2024.
- ^ "RTS Programme Awards". 7 February 2024.