*This was filmed before the SAG/AFTRA strike went into effect.
“If you go back and look at the age gap between the mom and the kid, it’s usually 10 years or less,” says actress Poorna Jagannathan. “You reach about 45 and no matter how big that kid is, you will be playing their mom. Your kid could be 43 years old and you’re 45 and you are going to be playing that mom. That is such intense ageism, not only from outside Hollywood but also from within our community. That is something I really always have to contend with.”
Now that she’s in her 50s, the Never Have I Ever star has also developed a keener sense for her body’s health. “I just turned 50 and I can feel my body resetting in a real way I have never felt before. I thought a change would come when I was in my 40s, but it didn’t — my mind wasn’t on my health — but in my 50s, I really have taken stock of the changes my body is going through and being proactive about being perimenopausal.”
Jagannathan notes there isn’t a wealth of information for women like her about menopause, but that still hasn’t taken away her curiosity over the subject matter. “I’m curious,” she says. “It’s going to be a whole new journey and I’m dying to [know more] and understand what I need to do to best go with the flow.”
In terms of how she finds flow, Jagannathan says she looks to her best friend, Sarita Choudhury. “I check in with my best friend and talk to her about stuff going on in my life. Any script I get, both of us are working with each other. We have a forever intense professional relationship, but also a personal relationship. Everything is better after I speak with her.”
Jagannathan also finds flow when she listens to female artists singing angry songs. “Beyoncé’s ‘Dont Hurt Yourself’ and Alanis Morissette’s ‘Jagged Little Pill.’ I love finding my flow through that.”