One Day star Ambika Mod was among the panellists to unveil a recent research project by Mastercard, which looked into the experience of 6,000 women working in the film industry. I heard how over 50% felt like the landscape was depressing, and over 70% felt they have to prove themselves more than their male counterparts.
“When you're a woman or any kind of minority in this industry, there's always a sense you've got to prove yourself,” Ambika explained. Later, she revealed in an interview to GQ that when comparing her own trajectory after the her hit Netflix show to that of her co-star Leo Woodall, she believed her identity made her breakthrough success slower in comparison. “There’s a privilege there that I don’t have access to,” she told the title.
Mod is caught in a bind that conflicts many creatives of colour, where ultimately you want your work to speak for itself, but when you are in receipt of a platform you also feel you must shed light on the additional hurdles faced by you and other peers in your community to be seen at all. When we caught up at the end of the trip, she spoke once again about her hurdles in the arts: “I know that me getting into this industry, to get my foot in the door was incredibly difficult," she said. "It was incredibly difficult. I really grafted. I didn't have any connection to the industry. I didn't come from money.” Amid this Ambika says she’s hopeful she will one day be back to present her own work at the film festival and soon we will see the actress in a comedy heist film where she stars alongside an incredible cast that includes Charli XCX as radical environmentalists kidnap the guests of a charity gala to support their cause.
We sat down to ask her at Cannes Film Festival to about her approach to fame, her dreams to be on SNL, and what equality would actually look like in the world of entertainment:
You said that you didn’t think this industry was for you, why is that?
When I was really little, I had no reference point for it. I just watched films. And I was like, I want to do that. And then as I got older, like, I was like, Oh, that's not gonna happen for me, because brown girls aren't on TV.
What would you write in the Burn Book for the arts right now?
I feel like this industry has become really risk averse. We see the same five people in everything, the same white faces in everything. I find that really frustrating. I don't know what the solution is. I haven't been in this industry long enough to give an intelligent answer about this, but I would love people to start just taking risks on especially younger voices, voices of colour, voices from marginalised backgrounds, who have really fresh, exciting stories. And also because those people, as I said before, are used to having to work really hard to get half as far. If you give them the chance, they will fucking run with it. They work so hard. And I'm speaking about this from personal experience. So I suppose that's really what I've been thinking about a lot recently, and something that I've been trying to be conscious of. My God, this industry is changing so quickly at the moment. It's almost unrecognisable to how it was five years ago.
What will feel like true equality to you in the industry?
For me? Not having to put the word female in front of director or writer or producer, not having to categorise a creative or a piece of work by the gender – I still think that's a mad thing. Male is the standard, and then anything else needs to be specified. I would also just love to not talk about the colour of my skin as much as I do. I would love to just talk about my work. Regardless of my being brown and how rare it is for me to be in this position – and it is, so I will happily talk about it – but I and so many others are working towards a future where I'm just allowed to do my job in the same way that my white peers are allowed to. They don't have to be responsible for anyone but themselves whereas I constantly have to be a spokesperson and bear that social responsibility.
As One Day drops on Netflix, she talks representation in rom-coms and the sticky subject of privilege.
The last time I saw you in the flesh was actually the last Glastonbury
Glastonbury was fucking intense. It was relentless, because of the nature of Glastonbury. People are having such a good time and it was really nice to meet people, but I was unprepared for that level of interaction. I'm such an introvert, so socially, I get wiped. I'm still navigating being recognised because of being on a Netflix show that dropped globally – there is nothing like it. I think I also just have a very recognisable face.
How do you deal with the attention now?
99% of the people are really lovely. I am getting better at putting my boundaries up. I don't have to say yes to a photo if I don't want to, it all depends on me and how I feel that day. I just need to remind myself especially as a young woman out and about, it’s just self-preservation. It's something people don't really actively teach you about or warn you about.
People think they're being so subtle about it. I've probably been the same if I've seen someone off the TV, out and about. But now I’m constantly acutely aware of what’s going on around me.
Other than the Charli XCX heist film, what other things that you've got coming up should fans keep their eyes peeled for?
I'm doing two plays back to back this year. I'm doing a play called Every Brilliant Thing on the West End. It's a one man show, and I have loved it since I was 19. I saw it at the fringe and I just absolutely fell in love with it. After One Day came out, I told my agents that I really wanted to go back to doing live stuff and said something similar would be perfect. Then literally out of nowhere a couple of weeks later, my agent was like: ‘You're not going to believe, like, what I've heard all about, like, they're putting that play on in the West End and they want to talk to you about it.’ I literally manifested it. Porn Play is a new piece where I play a sex addict.
With so much on-screen success, what is calling you to the theatre?
I'm really excited to just let it be 100% about the craft. Theatre is an actor's medium. I'm doing a lot of research into porn addiction, falling down YouTube holes, listening to podcasts on sex addiction and addiction in general. It's really eye-opening, and it's something that I didn't really have much familiarity with beforehand. This is a part of the job that I just find opens your mind and opens your world.
The 28-year-old Netflix star digs into double standards in the romance genre, criticism of her One Day character, and whether or not Emma and Dexter would make it in today's world.
Do you use these savvy career choices to explore different parts of yourself?
You can't really avoid [pouring parts of yourself into the work]. Especially when you – apologies for the wanky phrase – use your body as your instrument. There's no way to avoid that crossover. I don't actively pick projects to satisfy any inner work, but then at the same time, you're drawn to things for a reason, right? Inadvertently, when you finish a project, you discover things about yourself. It cracks you open in new ways. So I always say, every job cracks me open in a new way, and it's usually to do with the people that you're working with, to be honest.
Who is blazing the trail alongside you that has helped you stay sane along the way?
I’m starting to build [a community in entertainment]. Even if you don't become bezzie mates it’s just really nice to have those people you can reach out to. It’s nice to be able to ask questions and be curious about the experiences we’ve each come up against. A friend who has been really supportive of me is Paapa Essiedu who's just been so lovely to me for the last few years that I've known him and so supportive, and I was just really look up to him as an actor. I think he's just, like, incredible.
If you’re manifesting dream roles what’s coming up next for you?
I mean, it's a dream of my life to host SNL and there is one coming to Britain. My background is live comedy.
What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?
Food. I live for food. I live to eat.
What has been the biggest pinch me moment of your career so far?
Taylor Swift wrote me a letter saying she loved This is Going to Hurt and One Day, and she was a really big fan. I was just like, ‘This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me’. I got given the note by her publicist when I was at the Era's tour. I tried to send an email back.
Did you leave her on read?
She might still be thinking about whether I got her note, yeah!
