My Media Diet: Never Have I Ever’s Megan Suri

Megan Suri has just returned from an arse-kicking at a gym in LA, where the actress is from, when she joins our Zoom call. Grateful for the human interaction over the email Q&As she’s been accustomed to recently, the 23-year-old star is full of energy. Gearing up for the release of the third season of her Netflix series, Never Have I Ever, she’s had quite the rollercoaster journey since joining the project.

Never Have I Ever premiered in April 2020 and immediately garnered a massive fanbase. The coming-of-age comedy-drama focuses on the life of Indian-American teen Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), as she grieves her father’s passing while also seeking popularity at her high school. Suri’s appearance on the show comes in the second season as Indian-Muslim student Aneesa Qureshi. Aneesa is a new student at the school, as the only Indian student other than Devi, instantly leads to some predictable teenage jealousy.

Initially, Suri had auditioned to play Devi, but after a few rounds of callbacks, didn’t get the role. Although this was a bummer, the actress watched on as the show blew up, supporting her friend Darren Barnet who’d secured a role on the show. Plus, she was happy about that fact that South Asian stories was getting the recognition it deserved.

When the second season came around, then, and Suri was selected to join the cast, you can bet she was over the moon. In hindsight, Suri is grateful for how things played out. Aneesa is the perfect character for her. ​“In the beginning, I never really connected with Devi. Picking up the material for Devi was really hard for me even though I relate to Devi, ironically, so much more than I do to Aneesa,” says the Indian-American actress.

Never Have I Ever has gained a permanent place in many South Asian teens’ hearts thanks to its representation and unwillingness to perpetrate stereotypes about the community. ​“Seeing the impact it has on so many brown girls, there’s a sense of pride that comes along with it,” she says. ​“I’m making space for more brown people and showcasing more of us,” says the young star. But while conversations around representation are important, Suri also doesn’t want this to limit her. ​“At my core, I just want to be regarded as an actor who happens to be brown and not a brown actor. I don’t want to put myself in that category,” she says. Rightfully so.

Never Have I Ever​’s third season premieres on Netflix tomorrow. While you prepare to binge the entire season, take a look at Suri’s media diet, where she breaks down what she has been reading, watching, memeing and more…

The last article I found myself thinking about was…

An article from the Yoga Journal about different poses for lower back pain. I’m working on that right now, so shout out Yoga Journal!

The last new artist I discovered on Spotify was…

Oh my gosh, I’m gonna get so much hate for this… I don’t have Spotify! I use Apple Music – family sharing! But the last artist I got into who I think is incredible is Allan Rayman. Definitely check out his song Tennessee, it’s just a sick vibe.

The last picture I liked on Instagram was…

I don’t know. I rarely use Instagram, so I can’t remember.

The last TikTok I sent to a friend was…

I don’t use TikTok but YouTube shorts are essentially the same thing, right? There’s this dude called Creative Explained and he’s so cool. He will show you how to sprout your own seeds and create your own home disinfectant. I sent my mum one on sprouting lemon seeds and we’re both trying to do that right now.

The last series I binged (or watched a lot of) was…

Stranger Things. I’m deep in the trenches right now watching YouTube videos, watching past interviews. I’m obsessed, genuinely a stalker.

The last book I stayed awake reading was…

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.

The last Reddit thread I got sucked into was…

None. Who uses Reddit other than 30-year-old men?!

The last meme that made me laugh aloud was…

Never Have I Ever​’s third season premieres on Netflix on Friday 12^th August