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Ambika Mod

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Ambika Mod
Born
Ambika Bhakti Mod

(1995-10-02) 2 October 1995 (age 29)
Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England
Alma materSt Mary's College, Durham (BA)
Occupation(s)Actress, comedian, writer
Years active2019–present

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).

Early life and education

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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]

Career

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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]

Filmography

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Film

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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
TBA Sacrifice Katie Filming

Television

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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

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Year Title Role Venue
2015 Cirque du Sillý Self Edinburgh Fringe Festival
2019 Children of the Quorn Self Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Podcasts

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Year Title Role Notes
2022 Doctor Who: Redacted Captain Chopra Episode: "Rescue"

Awards and nominations

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Year Association Category Work Result Ref.
2020 Funny Women Stage Award Semi-finalist [27]
2022 Edinburgh Television Festival Breakthrough Talent Nominated [28]
2023 BPG Television, Streaming and Audio Awards Best Actress This Is Going to Hurt Won [29]
RTS Programme Awards Supporting Actor – Female Won [30]
2024 Gotham Awards Outstanding Performance in a Limited Series One Day Nominated [31]

References

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  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall From One Day Take The BFF Test Test, retrieved 9 February 2024
  3. ^ "Stage Awards Semi-Finalists 2020". Women Funny Awards. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ "Old Owenian performs at the Fringe!" (PDF). Old Owenians Newsletter: 8. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Catching up with Ambika Mod". DST First Night. 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ Wall, Natalie (4 March 2016). "The Durham Revue's Ambika Mod!". Her Campus. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  9. ^ "Durham Revue team up with Cambridge Footlights for 'ComedyFest!". Durham University. 10 February 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  10. ^ Brown, Keira (25 August 2019). "Ambika Mod: Within this main narrative we weave in and out of tight, witty sketches which range from observational to a bit more absurd". The Fountain. Archived from the original on 11 February 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  11. ^ Iftikhar, Asyia (9 February 2022). "Ambika Mod Is "Pretty Confident" She Could Do A C-Section IRL". Bustle. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Harold Night". 3 May 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2022.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ "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.
  14. ^ Morris, Lauren (16 February 2022). "Meet the cast of BBC One's This Is Going to Hurt". Radio Times. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  15. ^ "This Is Going to Hurt Is the Best Medical Drama in Years". TIME. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  16. ^ Fienberg, Daniel (1 June 2022). "Ben Whishaw in AMC+'s 'This Is Going to Hurt': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  17. ^ "2023 Awards". 7 February 2024.
  18. ^ "Meet the 'One Day' Netflix cast, from Ambika Mod to White Lotus star Leo Woodall". Glamour UK. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  19. ^ "One Day's Ambika Mod on why she initially turned down playing Emma". Cosmopolitan. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  20. ^ "Ambika Mod Didn't See Herself as a Romantic Lead. Then 'One Day' Happened". ELLE. 16 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  21. ^ "'One Day' is one of this year's defining cultural moments". Glamour UK. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  22. ^ Barr, Sabrina (11 February 2024). "Wondering why One Day actress playing Emma has you sobbing? Here's why". Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  23. ^ Seitz, Loree (20 February 2024). "One Day, Love is Blind Season 6 Lure Netflix TV Viewers". TheWrap. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  24. ^ 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.
  25. ^ "One Day: I rarely saw people like me in lead roles, says Ambika Mod". BBC News. 8 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  26. ^ "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.
  27. ^ "2020 Stage Awards Semi-Finalists Announced!". Funny Women. 4 August 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  28. ^ @EdinburghTVFest (16 June 2022). "Our nominees for Breakthrough Talent- Actor🎭 📺 @ambikamod 📺 @DLMacdonald19 📺 Dipo Ola 📺 @GambaCole #EdTVAwards" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  29. ^ "2023 Awards". Broadcasting Press Guild. 7 February 2024.
  30. ^ "RTS Programme Awards". Royal Television Society. 7 February 2024.
  31. ^ Verhoeven, Beatrice (14 May 2024). "'Baby Reindeer,' 'The Curse,' 'Shogun' Among Inaugural Gotham TV Awards Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
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