Poorna Jagannathan is known for making TV fans laugh and cry in equal measure. As Nalini on Mindy Kaling’s Netflix hit Never Have I Ever, the 52-year-old actress played a strict and caring dermatologist balancing motherhood, her career, and grieving her late husband. Since the series ended in 2023, Jagannathan has been flexing her action muscles with roles in feature films, the upcoming DC series Lanterns, and now Hulu’s Deli Boys. The star plays someone who could be seen as the opposite of her breakout role on Never Have I Ever: Lucky, the second-in-command to a Philadelphia drug kingpin who “[doesn’t] have a maternal bone in her body.” But Jagannathan knows how similar the pair really are.
“Both Lucky and Nalini are very strong women,” Jagannathan tells Marie Claire ahead of Deli Boys’ March 6 release. “Nalini is mentally strong, and she has will and determination. Lucky will take 10 guys out before her first cup of coffee in the morning.” Though the two characters inhabit very different worlds, they show two sides of the effortless badassery the actress has to tap into in her work and everyday life. Or, as the mother of one describes, “When you have teenagers, you automatically just become a gangster. It is just who you have to be.”
