In Conversation with Richa Moorjani
In our efforts to keep ROSE & IVY original, we are delighted that an array of talented women with upcoming projects are helping us maintain our integrity by photographing themselves home.
Richa Moorjani, star of Mindy Kaling’s newest Netflix project, Never Have I Ever, shares how she fell in love with performing, what inspired her to submit to the global open casting call, the importance of meditation and being an advocate for mental health awareness in the South Asian culture.
Photographs Courtesy of Richa Moorjani
- As Told to Alison Engstrom
On how she’s Navigating thIs Time Period
I am in LA, where I live with my husband, and I am good. Obviously, it’s been an interesting time for everyone; there have been ups and downs but I am just grateful and blessed to have all of the modern conveniences of groceries and such, so I have nothing to complain about. I am also grateful for my health. I am very passionate about self-care and having certain routines to nurture my mind, body and soul, so especially during this time, I have been trying to be consistent about making the time to do that. It’s little things like starting the morning and putting my phone on airplane mode, for at least an hour, so I don’t look at it. I believe that the first hour, after you wake up, you should try to limit you screen time. I think what you focus on has a profound impact on your state of consciousness. I do meditation, breathing exercises and if I have time I do a workout, then I'll put my phone back on.
On Growing Up and Discovering Her Passion of Performing
My journey started at a young age—my parents are both musicians and have their own Bollywood music band—they have had it since they met 40 years ago. I was born and raised constantly surrounded by culture, music and performance. I was put into dance classes at the age of five and I honestly cannot remember when I decided I wanted to become an actress because it has been for so long. I assumed it happened when I was dancing because that opened the world for me, in terms of music and storytelling; I also started doing school plays. Because my parents are artists, which is very unconventional in Indian American families, I was super lucky to have a family who really encouraged me and supported my passion for the arts and nurtured the dream of mine, too. Throughout my childhood through college, I tried to work as hard as I could towards acting by doing plays and taking acting classes in college; then I graduated from UC Davis and moved to LA eight years ago. Since then, it’s been an interesting and wonderful journey full of a lot of ups and downs, lots of challenges, wins, rejections, which is typical for any actor. I have seen a lot of progress, in terms of the types of content and the stories being told, which is why I am very thrilled about a show like Never Have I Ever. It’s definitely what I am passionate about as an actor to tell those types of stories.
On Submitting to Mindy Kaling’s open Casting Call
I had no idea that I would stand a chance because when Mindy put out the open casting call, it was for the three lead roles, so of those 15,000 tapes, we don’t know how many were for each role. When I first saw it, I initially had a lot of self-doubt and fear because it was daunting to know she was opening it to the world. We knew she was going to get a lot of submissions so I was even hesitant about doing it. But when I saw that it was for, not one but three leading South Asian characters, and created by someone who I looked up to, I just decided to do it. I sent in my tape and had no expectation of hearing back, but two or three weeks later, I was told that I was being considered for the part and to hold the date. After that, they called me in for a screen test and it was in front of Mindy, Lang Fisher, the co-creator of the show, directors and the casting directors—after that I booked it. It was really surprising, amazing, overwhelming and one of the most exciting moments of my life. We started shooting about three months after that.
“...people said, this show means so much to me; I feel represented; I have cried; I want a season two. It’s incredibly fulfilling and reminds me of why I want to be part of a project like this. There is such a need for shows like this and especially to come out at a time like this. ”
On Bringing The Project, ‘Never Have I Ever’ to Life
This is the second time that I got to work with Mindy; I worked with her on The Mindy Project, which was right when I moved to LA. It was a very small role and that was a one day soot, but it was amazing to work with her then and I had no idea that I would be working with her in a larger capacity. When I first booked the part, I didn't have all of the scripts for the show—we would get one or two at a time—but I just knew that even if I didn't know where the story was going to go or what was going to happen, I've always loved her work so much. I really trust her writing and bringing the script to life was an incredible experience. The first time that the cast got together was at our table read in front of all of the executives at Netflix and Universal, where we shot it. It was the very first time the cast had even met and the script came to life in this beautiful way, without a camera or anything, it was just us reading it. The people who were cast for each role I mean, it’s incredible, it’s like the parts were written for these actors—it couldn’t have been cast more accurately. Devi, the main lead, had just graduated from high school and it was her first TV job and she handled it like a pro.
On playing Her Character Kamala
My character plays the cousin of Devi. She is from India and she moves to live with her and her mother Nalini, in Sherman Oaks, which is here in the valley in Los Angeles. She is getting her PhD at Caltech in Pasadena. She is her seemingly perfect and ideal sibling who she feels resentful towards at first because she feels like she is everything her mother wants to her to be, but her and her mother have a complicated relationship. Kamala is brilliant; she’s extremely kind, humble and optimistic but she is also struggling with her newly found American identity as an immigrant here. She is trying to figure out what she wants, while balancing the needs and expectations of her family and society.
“When you meditate, it effects so many areas of your life; it makes you see different things that you do that may not be healthy. You just become more conscious of your every day choices. ”
On the Incredible Reaction to the Show
We definitely knew that it was going to be something special that would speak to a lot of people but the response we have gotten I could never have expected it to be—it’s been incredible. Before, when the trailer came out and people started to find out about the show—they just saw clips and read about it—people were flooding my inbox with messages about how excited they were and how great it felt to be represented. After the show came out, it was another wave of messages and comments, not just for me, but for all of the cast members. To sum up the comments on the Netflix page and account, people said, this show means so much to me; I feel represented; I have cried; I want a season two. It’s incredibly fulfilling and reminds me of why I want to be part of a project like this. There is such a need for shows like this and especially to come out at a time like this. I am so happy that people have a show that is cathartic and healing for them.
On The Importance of Her Spirituality and Meditation Practice
I am really grateful that I come from a family who instilled that in me from as long as I can remember. My religion is Hinduism and my parents are both spiritual people; from a very young age they tried to give us these tools and values. I really did develop an interest and I guess a passion for meditation and spirituality from my mom, she inspired me. When I was in college, my mom would lend our house to this meditation organization and we were constantly having people coming over to our houses to learn how to meditate. I think initially, I was a little bit resistant to it because I would have rather been out with my friends, but she convinced me to take the course, and it’s been one of the most important tools in my life. It’s what has helped me to stay mentally healthy and to deal with the ups and downs in the industry, but also for just life in general. When you meditate, it effects so many areas of your life; it makes you see different things that you do that may not be healthy. You just become more conscious of your every day choices. I usually do a 20 minute meditation, or sometimes I will do a guided meditation on Youtube or use an ap.
On Being a Mental Health Advocate for the South Asian Community
There is definitely a stigma around mental health in the South Asian community; I do think it is getting better but I think it’s going to take a lot of time and also the efforts from a lot of different people to help erase that stigma. There are so many organizations who are working on that, even just having Bollywood actors in India, who speak openly about it is amazing because people in that country look to Bollywood actors for everything—they have such a platform. When they speak out it, it can really shift the consciousness of the country. The reason I am passionate about it is that I have a lot of people around me who suffer from mental health issues, and also my mom is a therapist. I have learned so much about mental health and therapy—she has opened my eyes to that world. I think it is such an important thing to talk about to address especially in the media. In the last episode of the show, the mom goes for a therapy session and the therapist asks her something and she says, “I don’t believe in therapy, it’s for white people”. It’s a joke but it’s a loaded joke that will resonate with many people. That is what is taboo in the South Asian culture that we don’t talk about therapy or go. I don’t know what it is, because for me, it’s far from my reality because my mom is a therapist. I do know from other people though, you just don’t talk about mental health, it’s an unspoken thing. They don't think of mental illness to be as serious as a physical illness, which is where I think the problem also is but I don’t know what reasons to be honest. Mental health is something that effects everybody and I think that recent studies have shown that almost all people will experience depression at least once in their life. It’s so important to talk about it.
On Her Ideal Day Off
I love to be outdoors when the weather is nice, so I’d either go on a hike or go to the beach. I am a pretty introverted person so this quarantine hasn’t been too difficult. I like to be at home and I also like to be alone. For me, I feel the most energized when I can be myself and do my work and I feel the most creative when I have time alone. We don’t have that opportunity very often in our quote-unquote normal life.
