Who is Ambika Mod? Meet the One Day star behind Emma Morley

Dexter is played by The White Lotus star Leo Woodall, while Emma is played by Ambika Mod, who will be best-known to most viewers for her hard-hitting role in a 2022 BBC drama.

But who is Mod and where else might you have seen her before? Read on for everything you need to know.

Who is Ambika Mod?

Mod is best known for Netflix's One Day and BBC drama This Is Going to Hurt, Adam Kay's searing dark comedy about his time as a junior doctor in the NHS.

How old is Ambika Mod?

Mod is 29 years old.

What nationality is Ambika Mod?

She was born in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, to Indian immigrant parents.

What has Ambika Mod previously starred in?

Her most notable role prior to One Day is the BBC's This Is Going to Hurt, which stars Ben Whishaw as Adam, a junior doctor working on an NHS labour ward. Mod played another junior doctor, Shruti, who found herself buckling under the strain of the role and its many demands.

Mod also appeared in a couple of episodes of Billie Piper's I Hate Suzie and a single episode of Apple TV+ comedy Trying.

And committed Mod-heads will be aware of her sketch comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe.

What has Ambika Mod said about One Day?

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Mod said that working on the production was "exciting and terrifying in equal measure", adding: "Even before we started filming, it definitely felt like a much bigger challenge - just the scope and the breadth and the length of the series, and how much stuff we would have to do, and ageing up characters over 20 years, and the stuff they go through, definitely felt like a much bigger challenge than what I've done before."

In an interview with The Guardian, Mod also spoke about the fact that this version of Emma Morley is of south Asian heritage.

"When I was a teenager, there wasn't the same discussion we have now about representation and why it matters," she said.

"I've always had a difficult relationship with my physical appearance and I think a lot of that is being told, specifically or implicitly, that brown women aren't the standard of beauty. That'ts quite insidious, [and] gets fed to you by way of not seeing yourself on screen – that is very specific to young women of colour."

She added: "It still sits with me. I remember when I got One Day I was like: 'What business do I have playing a romantic lead?'"

Mod also addressed that subject in a conversation with Grazia:

"You're always a bit sceptical, because there are a lot of castings like that and sometimes it doesn't work out," she said. "In the end, thankfully, I was the best person for the part.

"What I love is that we didn’t ignore the fact that I'm brown, but it's not relevant to the plot. It's just a story about love, friendship and growing up."

Mod also told Grazia that the "chemistry" between herself and co-star Woodal was "really easy", adding: "It was just there from the beginning."

Is Ambika Mod on Instagram?

Yes – Mod is on Instagram and is available at the handle @ambikamod.

At present, she has over 15.6K followers.

Is Ambika Mod on X (formerly known as Twitter)?

Yes - Mod is On X and is available at the handle @ambikamod.

At present, she has over 20K followers.

One Day is available to stream on Netflix from Thursday 8th February. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

Looking for something else to watch? Visit our TV Guide or Streaming Guide.

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