Ambika Mod says she can’t compare post-One Day career to Leo Woodall due to ‘privilege’ she doesn’t ‘have access to’

The pair starred together in Netflix’s popular 2024 adaptation of the David Nicholls novel

One Day star Ambika Mod has a candid response for those comparing her career since the show to that of her screen partner Leo Woodall.

Mod, 29, and Woodall, 28, starred opposite one another in Netflix’s popular 2024 adaptation of the David Nicholls novel of the same name.

She has since gone on to appear in the television series The Stolen Girl and has a role in the forthcoming Romain Gavras film Sacrifice.

Woodall, meanwhile, played the lead in the Apple TV+ series Prime Target and has a number of upcoming film projects including a part in the Anthony Bourdain biopic Tony.

Asked by British GQ about the perception that that pair have been judged differently since starring together, Mod replied: “We just don't get treated the same at all.

“I got asked a lot about what it meant to play this character as a brown woman. And I would have loved for people to ask Leo [questions about representation] as well.”

'One Day' co-stars Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall (Getty)

Asked about how it feels to have her career trajectory compared to Woodall’s, Mod 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 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."

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“At the same time, I'm so lucky to be here. So few people who look like me get to be this position and do this. So it's a real double-edged sword. And I suppose the hope is that my being here makes it easier for a girl 10 or 20 years younger than me.”

The Independent has approached Leo Woodall for comment.

In a three-star review of One Day, The Independent critic Nick Hilton wrote: “Woodall – who was last seen in The White Lotus with his face buried in Tom Hollander’s buttocks – is a charming presence as Dex, combining a roguish smile with the sad eyes of a labrador begging at the table.

“Mod, best known for her breakout turn in the BBC’s This Is Going to Hurt, is an equally likeable presence, offsetting Emma’s brittleness with a punchy self-confidence.”