Ambika Mod says 'doors are starting to open' as she reflects on One Day success

A year after the sweeping success of her lead role in Netflix's One Day, Ambika Mod has shared her personal insights and experiences about being a brown woman in the film industry
Netflix's One Day star Ambika Mod has opened up about her experience navigating the film industry as a woman and those who compare her career trajectory to her former co-star Leo Woodall. The actress shared her candid thoughts after new survey research from Mastercard revealed that women in film feel progress is reversing, but that younger generations are best poised to affect positive change.
Speaking at a panel event alongside film director Nisha Ganatra (Freakier Friday), Mod said: 'It's great to see such a positive shift on screen, as the new research from Mastercard reflects. There's a real sense that change is taking hold, and that people are starting to believe in a more equal future for women in film.'
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'It's something I've seen in my own experience, progress is happening, and doors are starting to open,' she continued. 'But the findings are also a timely reminder that we're not there yet - especially when it comes to behind-the-scenes roles. If we want lasting change, we need to make sure opportunities exist not just in front of the camera but across every part of the industry.'
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Following the success of the Netflix miniseries, Mod has gone on to star in the television series The Stolen Girl and hit movie Black Bag, alongside Cate Blanchett, BAFTA award winner Marisa Abela and fellow Netflix alum Regé-Jean Page, and was also named on the 2024 Time100 Next list recognising rising influential leaders.
But despite her incredible success, her career trajectory is often compared to her former One Day co-star. Woodall's career has skyrocketed since the series, starring as the lead in Prime Target for Apple TV+ and recently earning a role in the upcoming Anthony Bourdain biopic, Tony.
Speaking to British GQ, Mod shared she doesn't have access to the same 'privilege' as Woodall, though their careers are often compared. She said: '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.'
She revealed in the interview that she still struggles not to compare herself to her white peers. 'Being brown is not particularly easy in this industry. You don't get the same opportunities. You don't get the same ascension.'
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Despite her success on One Day and BBC 's This is Going to Hurt, Mod says she still feels she has to prove herself in a way white actors do not. '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."
Mastercard's Women in Film research also cited that while representation of women on screen has improved, there is more pressure on women to 'prove themselves' than their male counterparts - particularly in behind-the-scenes roles.
Still for Mod, the future is bright as ever with a slew of exciting projects on the horizon including two big theatre shows. Mod's one-woman show, Every Brilliant Thing, will soon kick off in the West End and be followed by a performance in Porn Play at the Royal Court.
She will also take on a lead role in Sacrifice, the first English-language feature from French director Romain Gavras alongside Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Evans, Vincent Cassell and Charli XCX.

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