Ambika Mod

Ambika Bhakti Mod (/ˈʌmbɪkə ˈbʌkti ˈmoʊd/; 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).

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 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 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 formed a duo, Megan from HR, with Andrew Shires.^[10][11] She performs regularly at improvised comedy theatre The Free Association in London.^[12]

Following a series of short films, which consisted of Fair Bnb, Granddaughter, The Sacrifice (aka Leila Margot) and Pet Name,^[13] Mod appeared as a struggling junior doctor alongside Ben Whishaw in Adam Kay’s medical drama, This Is Going to Hurt (2022), based on his memoir of the same name.^[14] The series, surrounding 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 14 years following a one-night stand. Mod initially declined the part 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] 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".^[20] The series, along with her performance, received critical acclaim and the role proved to be a major breakthrough in her career.^[21][22] In terms of global viewing hours, One Day was the most-watched series globally during the week of February 12, with 9.9 million views.^[23] Writing for The Guardian, Chitra Ramaswamy commended Mod as a "revelation", and added that, "It is hard to believe this is her first lead role".^[24] While discussing her character's alteration in ethnicity from the novel and the film adaptation, 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".^[25]

Mod will next appear in a lead role in the Disney+ thriller series Playdate.^[26]

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• Ambika Mod at IMDb