Ambika Mod compares her and Leo Woodall’s careers since One Day: ‘It’s not personal’

One Day star Ambika Mod says she doesn’t regret her candour when she stated that her co-star Leo Woodall has a “privilege” that she doesn’t have access to.

The two actors starred opposite one another in Netflix’s hit 2024 adaptation of David Nicholls’ novel, about the relationship between friends Emma Morley (Mod) and Dexter Mayhew (Woodall) over 20 years.

While both received critical raves and wider fame thanks to their performances, some fans of the show have claimed that Woodall, 28, has since been offered more plum roles than Mod, 29.

Mod has gone on to appear in TV series The Stolen Girl, and has a role in the forthcoming Romain Gavras adventure comedy Sacrifice, starring an ensemble cast that includes Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Evans, Salma Hayek and Vincent Cassel.

Meanwhile, Woodall – also known for his performance in HBO’s series The White Lotus – starred in the Apple TV+ show Prime Target and has been cast in several new projects, including in the Anthony Bourdain biopic, Tony.

It was this role in particular that sparked a conversation on social media about the apparent discrepancies in Mod and Woodall’s career trajectories – which Mod herself appeared to agree with in an interview with British GQ in May.

open image in gallery

“I mean, it’s the truth!” she said, speaking to The Sunday Times this week. “This is nothing I’ve not said to Leo’s face, by the way… Obviously it’s not personal. It’s just the industry and the way that our society works.”

She continued: “You either get asked to audition for brown roles, which are usually the doctor, the dentist, the policewoman…”

Mod revealed that, while she isn’t solely being asked to audition for such roles, “even in the past year and a half, I have been asked to audition for the rookie cop who investigates the story of the two interesting white leads”.

She described herself in the interview as “relentless”, having juggled full-time work with comedy gigs in the evenings, as well as volunteering to act in “bad” short films just to gain some on-screen experience.

“If you’re brown, if you’re a woman, if you don’t have any connections, you do just have to work 10 times harder to get half as far. That’s sadly a reality of it,” she said.

In her GQ interview, she remarked: “It’s mad because we wouldn’t be going for the same roles at all, and we’re very different people.

“I think we’re going to have very different careers. If I compare myself to someone like Leo, I’m always going to come up short, because there’s a privilege there that I don’t have access to.”

open image in gallery

She continued: “Being brown is not particularly easy in this industry. You don't get the same opportunities. You don't get the same ascension. I've been the lead of two very successful, critically-acclaimed TV shows and I still feel like I have to keep on proving myself. A lot of my white peers don't really have to tackle that.

“At the same time, I'm so lucky to be here. So few people who look like me get to be in this position and do this. So it's a real double-edged sword. And I suppose the hope is that my being here makes it easier for a girl 10 or 20 years younger than me.”

Mod stars in the one-person play Every Brilliant Thing at @sohoplace – about a daughter attempting to cheer up her mother, who is suffering from severe depression – from 2-26 September.