{"id":775040,"date":"2026-07-21T02:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T02:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/775040\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T02:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T02:46:09","slug":"never-have-i-ever-maitreyi-ramakrishnan-teases-elle-season-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/775040\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Never Have I Ever’ Maitreyi Ramakrishnan Teases ‘Elle’ Season 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAn open casting call. A virtually unknown actress selected to lead a coming-of-age streaming TV sho<\/a>w<\/a> executive produced by an ambitious veteran actress-turned-producer with a strong personal connection to the IP.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s what Maitreyi Ramikrishnan went through when the Canadian actress was chosen among many<\/a> to lead the Mindy Kaling<\/a>-executive produced, semi-autobiographical Netflix comedy Never Have I Ever<\/a>. But the same could also be said about Lexi Minetree<\/a>, the Atlanta native who was selected from roughly 5,000 audition tapes<\/a>, again via an open search, to play the star of the Reese Witherspoon<\/a> executive-produced Legally Blonde prequel, Elle<\/a><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tNow, three years after the end of Never Have I Ever<\/a>, Ramakrishnan is going back to the world of teen shows to play the nemesis to Minetree\u2019s Elle Woods in the already renewed<\/a> (and already filmed) season two of Elle.<\/p>\n

\n\tThough Ramakrishnan\u2019s role might seem like she\u2019s starring in yet another high school series after Never Have I Ever\u2018s four-season run, she teases that her addition to the Legally Blonde universe is different.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWithout spoiling too much, I like my character\u2019s dynamic in the gang because it\u2019s not something I\u2019ve done before,\u201d Ramakrishnan told The Hollywood Reporter at the recent Elle premiere in New York.<\/p>\n

\n\tRamakrishnan\u2019s character, Sam, has been described as \u201cpossessing all our hero\u2019s ambition and none of her optimism. She\u2019s the founder, editor-in-chief and lord baron of the school newspaper, the commissioner of the grammar police and the enemy of joy,\u201d the description continues. \u201cIf Cosmo is Elle\u2019s bible, the AP Stylebook is Sam\u2019s holy grail.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking about what drew her to the role, Ramakrishnan mentioned the \u201ciconic\u201d world of Legally Blonde and called Witherspoon a \u201clegend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHaving worked with Witherspoon on the already filmed second season of Elle and Kaling on Never Have I Ever, Ramakrishnan also shared her thoughts on how the actresses-turned-powerhouse-producers, aiming to improve representation onscreen, are similar.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe biggest thing they have in common, I would say, is that they are both women with audacity, and that\u2019s why I think they hire women with audacity as well,\u201d she said. \u201cMeeting Lexi is such a joy because she works so hard. She\u2019s just amazing. Game recognizes game, and I think Mindy knew what she did casting me, and Reese knew what she did casting Lexi Minetree.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRamakrishnan described both Kaling and Witherspoon as \u201chard-working women who want to tell good stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAll eight episodes of Elle\u2018s first season are streaming on Amazon\u2019s Prime Video.<\/p>\n