Maitreyi Ramakrishnan hits back at racist trolls attacking her for wanting to play Rapunzel

20 June 2023, 18:02

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By Katie Louise Smith

"Not feeling bad about saying my dream and wishing for a shot to show what I got."

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan playing Rapunzel in a live-action remake of Tangled? I would like to see it. And so would she.

Over the past few years, the Never Have I Ever star has been pretty vocal on social media and in interviews about how playing Rapunzel in a possible live-action remake is her dream role.

While there's rumours that a live-action Tangled is in the very early developmental stages, there's no official confirmation from Disney about the movie or any casting news. Maitreyi is simply manifesting.

But after her quotes began re-circulating on social media recently, a wider audience of people have now started vocally shutting her down.

READ MORE: Never Have I Ever's Maitreyi Ramakrishnan wants to play Rapunzel in Disney's live-action Tangled

Following on from the success of The Little Mermaid with Halle Bailey in the role, people are keen to see more representation amongst the live-action Disney princess roles – including a possible South Asian Rapunzel.

Several tweets pointing out that Maitreyi would be an amazing Rapunzel have gone viral over the past few weeks, but they have been met with criticism, debate and some racist remarks arguing that the fictional character should be played by a white actress.

Some of those comments now appear to have got back to Maitreyi and she's responding to them on social media.

Responding to the trolls who say she shouldn't play Rapunzel, Maitreyi shared a link to the film's 'I've Got a Dream' song and wrote: "Anyways… the 'mega fans' who are pressed because I said I’ve got a dream role clearly didn’t listen to the sound track enough."

And the negative comments haven't turned her off the role either. "Not feeling bad about saying my dream and wishing for a shot to show what I got. till then, I’m still just living my life trying to learn how to crochet," she continued.

Very Rapunzel vibes of her, if you ask me!

Despite the trolls, the Maitreyi as Rapunzel agenda is still thriving. Over the weekend while on stage at Netflix's TUDUM event in Brazil, one fan in the audience shared their love of the actress with a sign that read: "U can be my Rapunzel."

After clocking the tweet, Maitreyi responded: "I am back stage right now and am actually in tears. I am literally crying because I truly am so overwhelmed with joy. Thank you, just thank you."

Read more about Maitreyi Ramakrishnan here:

• Never Have I Ever's Maitreyi Ramakrishnan says she's Team Paxton in interview prank
• Never Have I Ever's Maitreyi Ramakrishnan praises Devi and Paxton's 'sex scene'
• Maitreyi Ramakrishnan calls out people who mispronounce her name
• Will there be a Never Have I Ever season 5? Here's why the show is ending

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