Who are One Day stars Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall?

Breaking hearts with their portrayal of a star-crossed, 20-year love story within the Netflix adaptation of One Day, Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall are each rising stars within the British performing scene.

Hertfordshire-born Ambika, 28, impressed as a junior physician in This Is Going to Hurt in 2022, whereas Leo, 27, appeared as Tom Hollander‘s ‘nephew’ Jack within the newest collection of HBO‘s The White Lotus.

But most lately, the actors introduced Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew to life within the Netflix restricted collection One Day, primarily based on David Nicholls’ novel of the identical identify.

It aired on Thursday and audiences claimed they ‘beloved each minute’ of the emotional, tumultuous story, with many saying they’ve ‘by no means cried a lot at a present’. 

Emma and Dexter meet on the fifteenth July 1988, the night time of their Edinburgh University commencement. The subsequent morning, they go their separate methods however the novel and TV collection catches up with them on the identical day yearly. 

Each episode finds Dex and Emma, one 12 months older, on this one specific date, as they develop and alter, transfer collectively and aside, expertise pleasure and heartbreak. 

But who’re Ambika and Leo – the actors who introduced this love story to life?

One Day could also be Ambika’s first main on-screen position, however the actor was lauded for her emotional efficiency within the BBC miniseries This Is Going To Hurt.

Here, she portrays Shruti Acharya – an overworked junior physician who tragically ends her life after struggling a psychological well being disaster as a result of mounting strain within the NHS. 

But it wasn’t in performing that Ambika first made waves within the trade.

She made her begin in dwell comedy, performing for years on the Edinburgh Fringe Festival – first with college sketch troupe the Durham Revue and later as a due with Andrew Shires.

Ambika, who was born to Indian immigrant mother and father in Hatfield, made ends meet as a private assistant for Conde Nast by day, whereas engaged on dwell comedy at night time.

Speaking to the Guardian, Ambika described how after graduating from Durham University, she and her comedy companion Andrew (who type comedy act Megan from HR) took their exhibits to the Edinburgh fringe, together with sketches about an unsuccessful Simon and Garfunkel cowl band.

But the endeavour ‘felt like a large fail’ as a result of progress was so gradual – earlier than 2019, once they started to garner consideration.

Three years later, Ambika landed This Is Going to Hurt.

‘I massively felt like I did not belong there,’ she informed the outlet. ‘I did not know what performing was or learn how to act, or what I needs to be doing. But my philosophy was simply do every little thing and you will determine what works for you.’ 

She additionally revealed that whereas she’s grateful for her alternatives, there have been ‘ceilings’ in place for her as a younger, brown girl.

Ambika added: ‘Often surprise what sort of components would have come to me if I had that very same kind of breakout position and if I’d been white, and there have been simply extra alternatives on the market for me.’

The star is the daughter of an accountant and vet, and admits that she grew up fairly ‘shy and introverted’ however loved watching Bollywood films.

While doing her diploma in English Studies at Durham, she was within the college’s comedy group Durham Revue.

After graduating, she moved to London.

She fell in love with comedy, however quickly started contemplating performing roles and appeared within the likes of The Mash Report, I Hate Suzie and Pet Name earlier than touchdown This Is Going to Hurt in 2021.

She informed CNN that, after this, she felt misplaced as to what her subsequent step needs to be.

‘I did not actually really feel like quite a lot of the roles and auditions that have been coming to me have been that proper subsequent step up,’ she stated. ‘It form of simply felt like I used to be being put in my lane a bit as a brown girl. It was quite a lot of South Asian ladies in skilled jobs, very a lot helping the plot in a procedural means.’

Ambika even turned down an audition for One Day initially, pondering it could be ‘a waste of everybody’s time for me to even contemplate it’.

‘First of all, she’s written as a white girl. Second of all, I might simply by no means have seen myself ever enjoying romantic leads. I obtained the message very early on from Western tv that that simply wasn’t the vibe.’

But after a month-long means of auditions and display checks, Ambika was provided the position – and she or he fortunately determined it was too good of a chance to move up.

She stars in One Day alongside Leo Woodall, an actor from Hammersmith, west London, who’s a descendant of the nineteenth century American socialite Maxine Elliott.

Unlike Ambika, Leo comes from a household of actors – along with his father, stepfather and grandmother all working within the trade – and his mother and father even met at drama faculty.

The 27-year-old had initially deliberate for a profession in sports activities, however modified his thoughts on the age of 19 after watching the beloved BBC collection Peaky Blinders. 

Leo then attended Arts Educational School (ArtsEd) in London, graduating with a BA in Acting in 2019.

With a level behind him, roles got here to Leo rapidly.

His first was in an episode of hospital drama Holby City, and shortly afterwards he was solid in upcoming science fiction movie Nomad, chosen from 28,000 submissions for the position.

Leo filmed in 20 international locations over a three-year interval for the movie.

In the meantime, he made his movie debut in Cherry, directed by the Russo brothers, and appeared within the Peacock collection Vampire Academy. 

It was in 2022 that he had his first main breakthrough position as Jack in anthology collection The White Lotus, the troubled ‘nephew’ of Tom Hollander’s character.

Discussing his introduction to the position, Leo informed GQ: ‘Do you keep in mind that episode of Friends when Joey’s written a script for Chandler and Ross to learn, and he writes “a handsome man enters”. 

‘It was form of like that, it was like “Handsome Jack walks up to the pool. Portia looks at handsome Jack”.

‘There was a tagline within the breakdown of the character that was like, “Guy from Essex, is a magnetic person who causes some trouble in the hotel”. I want I might paraphrase it higher than that.’

But his expertise on the set of the White Lotus did not make One Day any much less daunting for Leo, who stated it felt like a ‘mountain to climb’.

He informed The Hollywood Reporter: ‘I used to be struck by how a lot strain I felt being a lead.

‘I did not know if I ought to behave just like the captain of a sports activities group. And I struggled with not having any form of second to myself, like you may’t tie your individual shoelace or spit your individual gum out.

‘There was in the future once I observed I used to be being adopted by a paparazzi photographer and I assumed, “I don’t know how people deal with this on a daily basis.” 

‘I need to be as profitable as I could be as an actor, however I do not assume it could be that enjoyable to be categorically well-known.’