‘Never Have I Ever’ actress Maitreyi Ramakrishnan’s quote of the day: ‘I’d rather put my dreams out there, do everything possible…’ – Canadian actress on courage, failure and having the strength to try

Dreams can be intimidating when they are spoken aloud. The moment an ambition becomes public, it can also become something others can judge, question or laugh at.

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan’s approach is almost the opposite. Rather than protecting herself from failure by keeping her ambitions private, the Canadian actress has spoken about the value of putting her dreams out into the world and giving them everything she has.

Quote of the day: “I’d rather put my dreams out there, do everything possible to achieve them, and say that I gave it my everything. At least I had the courage to try. If I fail and people laugh, great.”


The sentiment is particularly striking because Ramakrishnan’s own breakthrough came from taking a chance when she had very little reason to believe that a Hollywood career was guaranteed. At 17, she auditioned for Mindy Kaling’s Never Have I Ever after seeing an open casting call. She eventually won the role of Devi Vishwakumar from more than 15,000 applicants.

Who is Maitreyi Ramakrishnan?

Born on December 28, 2001, in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan was brought up in a Tamil-Canadian family. The two parents of the actress had migrated from their native country to Canada. As per interviews, she had faced difficulty regarding her identity during childhood years, but she later became more comfortable being a Tamil Canadian.

Being an actor was not always her career objective. While growing up, Ramakrishnan wished to be an animator at Pixar. But in high school, she discovered that drawing was not making her feel good. Her mother therefore motivated her to join a theatre course.

She had already started performing in the productions at her school and enjoyed acting. However, she had considered it just fun and not as an option for a career.

The audition that changed everything

The story of how Ramakrishnan landed her role is nearly a perfect example of the thinking that lies behind the quote by her.

When Mindy Kaling called for auditions for Never Have I Ever, Ramakrishnan along with her best friend decided to try out for the role. The actress had her audition recorded at a community centre using her mother's camera, with little expectation of success from it.

She has described that she did not have any professional experience in acting, prepared her acting resume herself, and used a headshot clicked by her friend.

Her reasoning was clear: she may not land the role, but why shouldn't she try her best in the audition? That decision eventually changed her life.

Kaling selected Ramakrishnan to play Devi Vishwakumar, the show's outspoken, ambitious and emotionally complicated teenage protagonist. The series premiered on Netflix in 2020 and quickly established Ramakrishnan as one of its breakout performers.

Her work has since expanded. She voiced Priya in Pixar's Turning Red and appeared as a voice performer in My Little Pony. In 2026, Ramakrishnan is also starring in Netflix's Best of the Best, a coming-of-age comedy centred on competitive Bollywood fusion dance. The film is scheduled to premiere on September 18, 2026.

What does the quote mean?

The central essence of what Ramakrishnan's quotation means is the decision to choose the possibility of failure over the certainty of never having tried. It makes sense to keep one’s dreams secret, since if no one knows about the goal, no one can refuse it. And if nothing is done, there won’t be any public failure.

However, there will not be any possibility of success either. According to Ramakrishnan’s philosophy, embarrassment, ridicule, criticism, or even failure should be tolerated, provided that they happen after an honest attempt.

The most valuable part of her saying might be “I gave it my all.”

One does not always have control over success, as opportunities depend on timing, other people's choice, circumstances, and even luck. However, one can prepare, persevere, and make an effort.

This is why her final remark, “At least I had the courage to try,” changes the very definition of failure. In the context of this philosophy, being unsuccessful after putting in every effort does not mean defeat but proves that a person was brave enough to try their luck with something they really wanted.

More quotes by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan

“Respect existence or expect resistance.”

“I know myself. I know I’m a hard worker. I know I will never stop working.”

“We’re all a mess at times.”

“I refuse to feel like my value [can be] discarded.”