Actress Niecy Nash is tremendous at playing a therapist on the teen Netflix series, Never Have I Ever, where people are sliding into her DMs, seeking advice as though she’s a real-life therapist.
Nash adroitly portrays Devi Vishwakumar’s (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) therapist, Dr. Jamie Ryan. For the three seasons, Nash’s character has provided Devi with insightful advice to help her navigate life.
But fans of the show ostensibly struggle with telling the difference between reality and fiction. Nash’s DMs of people asking for real-life advice from “Dr. Ryan” prove that.
“Oh, let me tell you something, everybody wants it,” Nash told Entertainment Tonight. “They’re all in my DMs, asking me what I think. I said, ‘Listen, I play a therapist on TV. Everybody relax.'”
She continued, “Here’s the thing, I go to therapy, so I do have a lot of sound advice. But I think, you know, sometimes people think, really think, I’m the Dr. Ryan of it all, and I’m not!”
Despite the overwhelming number of DMs, Nash enjoys being a part of a series with much diversity.
“Oh, my God. It was like the ultimate melting pot,” Nash said. And the good thing about it is that, because the casting was so beautiful, the relationships didn’t seem forced. You know what I mean? You believe that this group were really friends, and I love that.”
Working on the show, Nash has thought back to her teen days and told ET that if she could go back and tell her teenage self anything, it would be about her body image.
“‘Girl, you don’t have to be skinny. It’s going to be alright,'” Nash said. “‘You know, my cheerleader’s sweater had ‘Big Mama’ on it because I was always the biggest one. In some circles, I still am, but I still have a very great life, and, you know, eventually, thick is going to be in. Don’t worry about it because, see, when I was thick, it wasn’t in. It wasn’t. It wasn’t a fad, but hold on. Your time is coming.’ That’s what I would tell my younger self.”
Actress Mindy Kaling served as co-executive producer for the show, which debuted on the streaming giant spring 2020. Her teen life inspired her to co-produce the project and show her different personalities in the show’s characters, hoping to inspire others. The character she sees herself in the most is Devi.
“I really do relate on a very, like, cellular level to Devi and her want — her desire of being loved and accepted and wanting a boyfriend. That all feels so — that really mirrors my childhood,” Kaling told People.
Season four of Never Have I Ever comes out on June 8 on Netflix.
