One Day's Ambika Mod On Leo Woodall Career Comparison

Buzz Feed

27-05-2025

Last week, actor Ambika Mod was questioned about her and Leo Woodall's contrasting career trajectories post-One Day.
If you watched the heartbreaking Netflix series, you'll know that Ambika delivered an excellent performance as Emma Morley alongside Leo, who played Dexter Mayhew. However, while Leo has been pretty booked and busy since One Day aired in February, Ambika hasn't had as much time in the limelight.
Post-One Day, Leo starred in the latest Bridget Jones film, and played the protagonist in the Apple TV+ thriller series Prime Target. He is also set to star in an upcoming crime film called Tuner alongside Dustin Hoffman, and true-life thriller Burning Rainbow Farm with Sebastian Stan.
When asked about the difference between her and Leo's careers at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, Ambika heartbreakingly said, '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.'
Ambika, who is of Indian heritage, 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.'
Ambika's raw comments have since sparked an important discussion online, with several fans looking back on other times POC actors faced more difficulty in gaining equal recognition and opportunities compared with their white costars. For example, one person pointed out that Parminder Nagra's career was 'overshadowed' by Keira Knightley's after the pair starred together in the 2002 film Bend It Like Beckham — despite 'the movie being about a young Indian woman.'
And after pop culture reporter @stells_press perfectly broke down Ambika's comments on TikTok, another fan noted that since playing Eddie Munson in Season 4 of Stranger Things, Joseph Quinn has starred in numerous acclaimed projects — including the leading role in A Quiet Place: Day One alongside Lupita Nyong'o. However, some members of the main cast from the first season, like Caleb McLaughlin and Gaten Matarazzo, haven't signed on to many renowned projects outside of the Netflix hit.
Highlighting the difference in Lana Condor and Noah Centineo's careers post-To All The Boys I've Loved Before, someone wrote, 'lana has been in barely anything since but noah has been in about 500 different films.'
Other fans mentioned Bridgerton, pointing out that Simone Ashley and Jonathan Bailey's careers have taken different turns despite the fact that they delivered equally powerful performances as the leads of Season 2. Jonathan has starred in hits like Wicked and Fellow Travelers, while Simone recently bagged her first leading role in years in the Prime Video movie Picture This, which she co-produced.
And on the contrary, some fans highlighted white actors who have had 'more similar' career trajectories after starring in the same breakout role, citing Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones' similar success after starring in Normal People.
If you can think of any more examples, feel free to share them in the comments.