Richa Moorjani is an American actress who is best known for her role as Kamala in the series ''

Never Have I Ever "Never have I ever", also known as "I've never..." or "ten fingers", is a drinking game in which players take turns asking other players about things they have not done. Other players who have done this thing respond by taking a drink. A vers ...

''.

Early life and family

Moorjani attended the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The inst ...

, where she majored in

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

. She graduated in 2011. For the past 25 years, Moorjani has been a student of Srimati Anuradha Nag (Tarangini School of Kathak Dance) and has been trained in various styles of western and Indian dance. She told ''The Hindu'', "I will dance until I cannot. Basically, until I die!" Moorjani's family managed a Bollywood music band.

Career

Moorjani's early years as an actor saw her playing guest roles in several television shows including''

The Mindy Project ''The Mindy Project'' is an American romantic comedy television series created by and starring Mindy Kaling that began airing on Fox in September 2012 and finished its run of six seasons on Hulu in November 2017. The series was co-produced by Un ...

'' (directed by

Mindy Kaling Vera Mindy Chokalingam (born June 24, 1979),Additional archive on June 25, 2015. known professionally as Mindy Kaling (), is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter and producer. She first gained recognition starring as Kelly Kapoor in the N ...

), '' NCIS: Los Angeles'' and '' 9-1-1.'' She also voice-acted in ''Fallout 76'', a 2018 online action role-playing video game developed by

Bethesda Game Studios Bethesda Game Studios is an American video game developer and a studio of ZeniMax Media based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was established in 2001 as the spin-off of Bethesda Softworks' development unit, with Bethesda Softworks itself re ...

and published by Bethesda Softworks. Since 2020, Moorjani has been portraying one of the lead characters in

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

original series ''

'', which was also co-written by Kaling. She auditioned for ''Never Have I Ever'' through an open casting call. Richa plays main character Devi's cousin, Kamala Nandiwadal, in the series. Kamala is a PhD student in biology at

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

. Speaking on playing a woman of colour in STEM, she tells ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'', "I learned about how much women of colour in STEM go through. It’s a real systemic problem where their names are taken off research papers. Granted we see what Kamala goes through in the lab via a comedic lens, but I was keen to show this storyline”. As of late-2021, Moorjani's next project ''Broken Drawer'', directed by Rippin Sindher, has been in post-production. The film is loosely inspired by true events, following a young Sikh mother who was killed while working at her family-owned convenience store in rural California. "Rippin called me and told me how special this role was to her, being based off her mother, and that she couldn't see anyone playing it but me. It turned out to be such a lovely and fulfilling experience," Moorjani told ''The Hindu''.

Filmography

; Films ; Television ; Video games *''

Fallout 76 ''Fallout 76'' is a 2018 online action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is an installment in the ''Fallout'' series and a prequel to previous entries. ''Fallout 76'' is Bethesda ...

'' (2018) as Abigayle Singh, Watoga, Natasha Hunt, and Nari Simir (voice role) *'' Uncharted: The Lost Legacy'' as additional voices

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moorjani, Richa Living people Actresses from the San Francisco Bay Area Actresses from California American film actresses American television actresses American actresses of Indian descent University of California, Davis alumni American expatriate actresses in India 21st-century American women 21st-century American actresses Year of birth missing (living people)