Ritesh Rajan

Actor Ritesh Rajan might be best known for roles in Russian Doll, The Jungle Book, Stitchers, Definition Please, and voicing Ken in Mattel's Barbie Vlogger universe - but this episode quickly turns into something much bigger than a career retrospective. It becomes a conversation about identity, ambition, immigrant families, and why South Asians still struggle to support each other creatively in America. Ritesh and I cover everything from growing up as one of the only Indian kids in a small-town New York school system to playing Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar, teaching Bhangra-infused Zumba classes around the world, and the surreal feeling of finally standing on sets filled predominantly with South Asian artists. There's also a hilarious deep dive into South Indian naming conventions, Indian-parent threats that sound criminal when translated into English, and why Ritesh believes South Asians need to stop asking "why aren't you in more things?" and start actually supporting the projects that already exist. It's thoughtful, funny, incredibly honest, and one of the more grounded conversations this show has had about what representation actually means once the cameras stop rolling.  Ritesh's projects mentioned in the show: Russian Doll The Voice of Ken (Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures) Definition Please Follow Ritesh Rajan: IMDb Instagram Facebook X (Twitter)