Maitreyi Ramakrishnan Joins Elle Season 2 as Sam

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By TRH Entertainment Desk

‘Never Have I Ever’ Alum Maitreyi Ramakrishnan Is Going Back to High School — This Time as Elle Woods’ Rival

Mumbai, July 23, 2026 — Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is trading one iconic teen comedy world for another. The actress best known for four seasons as the lead of Netflix’s “Never Have I Ever” has joined the season two cast of “Elle,” Prime Video’s “Legally Blonde” prequel series, according to Variety. She was the first new addition to the season two cast when the news broke in late February, arriving just weeks after the show’s second-season renewal was announced — months before the first season had even premiered.

Who Is Sam? Ramakrishnan’s New Character, Explained

Ramakrishnan won’t be playing a version of Elle Woods herself; that role belongs to Lexi Minetree. Instead, according to Deadline, Ramakrishnan will play Sam, described as Elle’s foil — a character possessing all of the show’s hero’s ambition and none of her optimism. Deadline lays out the character in vivid detail: Sam is the founder, editor-in-chief, and self-styled “lord baron” of the school newspaper, the self-appointed commissioner of the grammar police, and, in the show’s own words, the enemy of joy.

The Hollywood Reporter’s casting coverage adds one more memorable line from the character description: if Cosmo is Elle’s bible, the AP Stylebook is Sam’s holy grail.

It’s a sharp, comedic contrast to the world Ramakrishnan is stepping into — and, notably, a very different kind of teen character than the one that made her famous.

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The Show: A 1990s Prequel to a Beloved Franchise

“Elle” follows Elle Woods through her high school years, tracing the formative experiences that shaped her into the character audiences first met on the big screen. The Hollywood Reporter describes the series as 1990s-set, tracking Elle’s teen years before she became the character introduced in the original “Legally Blonde” film.

TheWrap notes the series is co-showrun by creator Laura Kittrell alongside Caroline Dries, with Reese Witherspoon, Lauren Neustadter, Marc Platt, and Amanda Brown serving as executive producers, and the show produced by Hello Sunshine and Amazon MGM Studios.

Witherspoon herself has spoken about the significance of bringing Elle’s origin story to the screen. Per TheWrap, Witherspoon said that twenty-five years after audiences first met Elle Woods, it feels like a dream to share the story of how she became the unstoppable force fans fell in love with. She also praised newcomer Lexi Minetree directly, calling the experience of discovering her and watching her take on the role one of the most gratifying experiences of her career.

Ramakrishnan on Why This Role Felt Different

In a follow-up interview, Ramakrishnan spoke about why stepping into the “Legally Blonde” universe felt distinct from her prior teen-comedy work, despite the surface similarities to her “Never Have I Ever” run. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she described the “iconic” world of “Legally Blonde” and called Witherspoon a legend when discussing what drew her to the role. The same report notes that Ramakrishnan has now worked directly with both Mindy Kaling, who executive produced “Never Have I Ever,” and Witherspoon — two actresses-turned-producers who have each built major franchises centered on female-led comedy.