Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is returning to high school, but this time she is not the protagonist.
The Never Have I Ever star has been cast as Sam, the antagonist to Lexi Minetree's Elle Woods in the already-filmed second season of Elle, the Legally Blonde prequel series streaming on Amazon's Prime Video. Season 2 has already been renewed. Ramakrishnan discussed the role at the recent Elle premiere in New York, speaking with The Hollywood Reporter.
Sam has been described as a character "possessing all our hero's ambition and none of her optimism. She's the founder, editor-in-chief and lord baron of the school newspaper, the commissioner of the grammar police and the enemy of joy," the description continues. "If Cosmo is Elle's bible, the AP Stylebook is Sam's holy grail."
Ramakrishnan said the part is a departure for her. "Without spoiling too much, I like my character's dynamic in the gang because it's not something I've done before," Ramakrishnan told The Hollywood Reporter at the recent Elle premiere in New York.
Elle follows Minetree, an Atlanta native who was selected from roughly 5,000 audition tapes through an open casting call to play the young Elle Woods. The show is executive produced by Reese Witherspoon, who has a personal connection to the Legally Blonde franchise she made famous. Ramakrishnan's path to Never Have I Ever followed a similar casting process, with the Canadian actress chosen through an open search to lead the Mindy Kaling-executive produced Netflix series.
Having now worked with both Kaling and Witherspoon, Ramakrishnan compared the two producers. "The biggest thing they have in common, I would say, is that they are both women with audacity, and that's why I think they hire women with audacity as well," she said. "Meeting Lexi is such a joy because she works so hard. She's just amazing. Game recognizes game, and I think Mindy knew what she did casting me, and Reese knew what she did casting Lexi Minetree."
She also described both as "hard-working women who want to tell good stories."
All eight episodes of Elle's first season are currently streaming on Prime Video.
