Maitreyi Ramakrishnan'S Net Worth — From Library Audition To $4M Starlet

What Is Maitreyi Ramakrishnan's Net Worth?

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is a Canadian actress with a reported net worth of $4 million. Her rise was rapid and distinctly modern – a homemade audition tape led to a starring role on one of Netflix's biggest teen comedies and opened doors across film and animation.

Her earnings reflect not just television paychecks but a growing mix of voice work, feature films, and other entertainment opportunities that followed the success of her breakout series.

Early Life – Roots in Mississauga and Tamil Canadian Identity

Family and upbringing

Maitreyi was born on December 28, 2001, in Mississauga, Ontario. Her parents are Sri Lankan Tamils who moved to Canada after fleeing the Sri Lankan Civil War, and Ramakrishnan has repeatedly described herself as Tamil Canadian – choosing a hyphenated identity that honors both community and country.

School and early interests

She attended Meadowvale Secondary School, where early dreams of a career in animation eventually gave way to a growing interest in acting. In her final year, school theater commitments ramped up and she was set to play Velma Kelly in Chicago before an unexpected audition rerouted her plans.

Although she was admitted to York University's theater program, Maitreyi deferred to take her first professional role. She later pivoted academically to human rights and equity studies and began taking university classes while managing a busy acting schedule.

How the 'Never Have I Ever' Audition Changed Everything

A social-media casting call and a homemade tape

In 2019, Mindy Kaling posted an open casting notice looking for South Asian talent for a new Netflix show. A friend encouraged Maitreyi to audition. With no agent, résumé, or credits, she and her friend filmed an audition against a blank wall at a Mississauga community library using her mother’s camera.

From local library to Los Angeles

What began as a casual, low-pressure tape caught the attention of Kaling and producers anyway. After submitting additional clips and flying to Los Angeles for a screen test, Ramakrishnan beat more than 15,000 applicants and landed the lead role at age 17 – her very first professional acting job.

"I made a homemade tape for fun, never imagining it would lead to flying to L.A. and starring on Netflix – it still feels a bit unreal."

Never Have I Ever – The Netflix Breakthrough

Devi Vishwakumar and the show's impact

Never Have I Ever premiered on Netflix in April 2020. Ramakrishnan starred as Devi Vishwakumar, an ambitious, impulsive Indian-American teen navigating grief after her father’s sudden death. While Mindy Kaling drew on aspects of her own youth, Devi grew into a fully original character with a mix of temper, intelligence, vulnerability, and humor.

Cast, reception, and run

The series featured Poorna Jagannathan as Devi's mother, Richa Moorjani as cousin Kamala, Ramona Young and Lee Rodriguez as her close friends, and Jaren Lewison and Darren Barnet as the two romantic sides of her love triangle. Tennis legend John McEnroe served as the series narrator. Netflix reported that 40 million households watched Season 1 during its first four weeks, and the show ran four seasons and 40 episodes, concluding in 2023.

Salary Details – How Quickly Her Pay Grew

Early television paychecks

Ramakrishnan's first-season salary helped make clear how quickly her financial life changed. The Hollywood Reporter noted she earned $21,000 per episode in Season 1 – about $210,000 for the 10-episode season.

Raises and negotiations

Her per-episode pay rose to $26,250 in Season 2, totaling $262,500, plus a reported $100,000 bonus before production began – putting known Season 2 compensation above $360,000. Ahead of Season 3, she and other cast members negotiated for bigger raises, with Ramakrishnan seeking pay closer to veteran castmate Poorna Jagannathan. Specific Season 3 and 4 figures were not publicly disclosed.

These TV salaries preceded later income from films, voice roles, endorsements, and other opportunities that contribute to her $4 million net worth.

Voice Work and Animation – Turning Red and Beyond

Voicing Priya in Turning Red

While still tied to Never Have I Ever, Maitreyi moved into animation. She voiced Priya Mangal in Pixar's Turning Red (2022) – a good fit, since the story is set in Toronto and she grew up in the area. Priya’s deadpan delivery and dry humor helped the role stand out.

More animated roles and accolades

She became the voice of Princess Zephyrina “Zipp” Storm in several My Little Pony projects, voiced the astronaut Nan-young in the English-language version of the Korean film Lost in Starlight, and in 2025 played Beesha Balti in Netflix’s animated adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Twits. The Twits’ ensemble included Natalie Portman, Emilia Clarke, Margo Martindale, Johnny Vegas, and Alan Tudyk, and Ramakrishnan earned an Annie Award nomination for her performance.

Feature Films – Slanted, Freakier Friday, and Best of the Best

Slanted – a satirical turn

In Amy Wang’s Slanted, Ramakrishnan played Brindha, the older sister of Joan Huang – a Chinese-American teen who undergoes a procedure to appear white as part of a satirical sci-fi tale about race and assimilation. Slanted premiered at South by Southwest in 2025 and won the Narrative Feature Competition Grand Jury Award.

The project let Ramakrishnan explore cultural identity from another angle after four seasons of Devi’s story.

Freakier Friday – joining a Hollywood franchise

Ramakrishnan joined the cast of Disney’s Freakier Friday (2025), the sequel to the 2003 Freaky Friday. Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan returned, and Ramakrishnan played Ella, a pop star tied to Anna’s music career. The movie grossed over $153 million worldwide, marking her biggest commercial hit in live-action to date.

Best of the Best – lead role on Netflix

In 2026 she headlined Netflix’s Best of the Best as Maya, a freshman at UCLA drawn into competitive collegiate Bollywood-fusion dance. Written by Hasan Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam, and co-starring Priyanka Kedia, the film showcased Ramakrishnan’s dance training and a transition from the chaos of high school into a college-age story about friendship, ambition, and South Asian identity.

Awards and Recognition – Industry Respect and Accolades

Early acclaim and honors

Maitreyi earned a 2021 Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series, along with nominations from the Canadian Screen Awards, MTV Movie & TV Awards, and the People’s Choice Awards. In 2021 she was named to the TIME100 Next list, with a profile written by Mindy Kaling.

Canadian recognition and animation nods

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television presented her with the Radius Award for international impact. Later, her work in The Twits earned an Annie Award nomination, broadening the scope of recognition across mediums.

Education, Hobbies, and Advocacy

Balancing school and stardom

Although she deferred from York University to film Never Have I Ever, Maitreyi later resumed studies in human rights and equity. She’s said that education wasn’t a backup plan but a way to keep learning while working.

Gaming, representation, and public voice

Offscreen she’s an avid gamer who loves Nintendo and Super Smash Bros. She’s also used her platform to push for more racial and gender representation across entertainment and gaming – a consistent theme in her public comments. Her career began in one of the most unconventional ways in recent TV history – a homemade tape shot in a library that beat out 15,000 competitors and launched a multi-platform career.

Why Her Net Worth Reflects a Diverse Career

From a $21,000-per-episode starting point to bonuses, raises, voice roles at Pixar and Netflix, and leads in studio and streaming films, Maitreyi’s $4 million net worth mirrors a fast-moving, varied career. She has proven she can headline a teen comedy, voice animated characters, star in satire, and take parts in big-studio franchises.

As she continues to shift between TV, film, and animation, expect her earnings and profile to grow alongside a career that started with a borrowed camera, a blank wall, and a lot of hustle – a true SoCal-meets-Toronto story with global reach.