Netflix's Never Have I Ever Owes a Lot to Its Young Star — and Her Mom

In the span of its short first season, Mindy Kaling's coming-of-age comedy Never Have I Ever served up an epic array of hijinks, already cementing the show's legacy as a whip-smart, intimate portrait of a modern first-gen teenager. From sex dreams that idolize Ruth Bader Ginsberg to documenting the Indian diaspora's love of fountains to destroying a pristine Anjelica Huston for Kohl's suit, Never Have I Ever crafted iconic scene after iconic scene, which in turn garnered a devoted fandom. It was next to impossible to pick just a handful favorite moments to rewatch with the series' star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan in celebration of Never Have I Ever landing on TV Guide's 100 Best Shows ranking, but pick we did, and now we've got a bevy of behind-the-scenes stories as delightful as the series itself.

Ramakrishnan showed some major love for her on-screen and real-life parents during our shoot, including the fact that no one could keep a straight face as Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan) called a particularly nosy auntie a bitch -- and that by the time Ramakrishnan finished shooting the first season and went home to Toronto, her dad had installed a fountain from Home Depot in a bizarre case of life imitating art. ("That was really ironic," she mused.) 

https://www.tvguide.com/news/100-best-shows-tv-right-now-2020/">The 100 Best Shows on TV Right Now

But the most important shout-out of the video went to Ramakrishnan's mom, who was on-set during the filming of the Ganesh Puja scenes in Episode 4, "...felt super Indian," and is the reason all the actors' saris are perfectly on point. "My mom was the one helping Sal [Perez, Never Have I Ever's costume designer]...just to make sure everything was accurate," Ramakrishnan said. "The accuracy, we love that. We love accuracy."

For more delightful behind-the-scenes stories -- including Darren Barnet not knowing how to take off his shirt on camera, the one time Ramakrishnan made everyone on set cry, and why Ramakrishnan is banned from doing her own stunts -- check out the full video above.

Never Have I Ever is available to stream Netflix.