Ambika Mod: Securing lead role in ‘One Day’ involved ‘rigorous audition process’

Ambika Mod will shortly be seen in the lead role of Emma Morley in the Netflix adaptation of David Nicholls’ novel One Day.

The 14-episode series takes the audience on a 20-year journey through the comedic romance of Emma and Dex, played by Leo Woodall. Each episode revisits the couple on the same date, year after year, charting their joys, heartbreaks, and the evolving dynamics of their bond.

Mod, who is best known for playing the role of Shruti, a junior doctor in the BBC drama This is Going to Hurt, said that securing the role of Emma in the TV adaptation of One Day involved a rigorous audition process that took months.

“I totally get why they did it because they are two massive roles and they needed to cast them right,” she tells a publication.

In another interview, she told Telegraph that she was bullied by boys at high school who would call her ‘ugly’.

“I had a bad experience with boys at high school. They’d come up to me, quite regularly, and say, ‘You’re ­really ugly.’ S--t like that. That does still inform a lot of who I am. So, I guess that being cast as the romantic lead in a big TV show is pretty validating,” she said.

Mod also recalled working on This is Going to Hurt during lockdown. “The show felt extremely important. We filmed it during lockdown, so it was a more crucial time than ever for the NHS. I knew it was going to strike a chord, but I did not realise Shruti’s storyline was going to have the effect it did. I feel lucky and proud of that job,” she said.

One Day is available on Netflix from Thursday.