Ambika Mod has also spoken out against fans who harshly judge Emma but not Dexter.
Ambika Mod is calling out the “double standards” surrounding how people react to her performance as Emma in One Day.
As soon as One Day debuted on Netflix last month (Feb 8), people became obsessed with Emma and Dexter’s captivating will-they-won’t they love story. Based on the best-selling David Nicholls novel of the same, the standalone series has won over a whole new legion of fans who can’t get enough of the two loveable Edinburgh graduates and their 20-year saga.
However, while both characters are popular online, there’s also been a huge discrepancy with how critical people are of Emma and Ambika Mod’s performance in the TV show in comparison to Dexter and Leo Woodall’s performance. Now, Ambika, is criticising the response and opening up about how the backlash to Emma has affected her.
Discussing the negativity towards both her and Emma with Glamour, Ambika said: “This is something that I’ve been thinking about a lot in the last few weeks, because I’ve not just seen it in terms of Emma and Dexter. The romance genre can be a double-edged sword. For a long time, it has not been a genre that’s been respected because it’s mainly for women.”
Ambika then explained: “It always seems to be the male characters and the male protagonists and the male actors who are elevated from having done a rom-com, and it’s the female characters who don’t get that same recognition, who don’t get that same elevation. It’s a really twisted double standard that shouldn’t be the case.”
Ambika added: “It was never a doubt in my mind that people would fall in love with Dexter, and that they would fall in love with Leo. But as a woman, as a woman of colour, playing this character, I had a lot more to prove and I’ve garnered a lot more criticism than he has.”
In terms of how Emma gets judged for having an affair in the show but Dexter doesn’t get judged as harshly, Ambika said: “It’s the double standard…. Like, Dexter did much worse shit than Emma does. We don’t see him apologizing! Like, he’s done terrible stuff. We don’t really ever see him apologizing or reckoning with that, and no one expects that of him.”
She ended by saying: “I imagine it’s the same people who were saying Emma should apologise, who’ve also been like, ‘I love Dexter. I love him so much.’ Again, it’s this double standard just seeping in everywhere.”
As for whether Ambika’s discussed the reception in therapy, she said: “Yes, definitely. Absolutely, I have.”
