Minor spoilers for Never Have I Ever below.
In order to prepare herself for the role of Fabiola on Netflix’s new series Never Have I Ever, Lee Rodriguez decided to get crafty. Her character, rigid and often wearing polos buttoned up all the way to the top, is practically a robotics genius. So Lee thought she’d try her own hand at building a robot. The soda can creation wasn’t anything high-tech like a cyborg out of a sci-fi flick, however, she did give it an ingenious name.
“It has little straw arms and it walks. It was pretty cool, but it was so, so hard,” Lee tells Teen Vogue. “It was a kit that came with pieces so it was kind of cheating, but it came together and that’s how Tinzel Washington was born.”
Lee has had a few minor roles, including appearances on Snap’s Bed of Lies and Grown-ish, but Never Have I Ever is her first major project. It suddenly opened her up to a whole new world, going to table reads and filming every day. While she was intimidated and anxious at first, settling into the character of Fabiola and getting to know the rest of the cast and crew calmed her fears. When she met Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Ramona Young, who play Devi and Eleanor respectively, she says there was an instant connection, that they all “vibed from the jump.” Soon, it went from feeling like work to coming in to hang out with friends working on an important project together.
Calling Never Have I Ever an important project is an apt description. Yes, it’s a hilarious comedy that’s sure to make viewers laugh. It’s also a meaningful coming-of-age story about three teen girls and their friendship. We spend the most time with Devi, who is still processing the loss of a loved one on top of being a competitive, ambitious Indian American who often thinks of herself before others. Eleanor deals with the emotional blowback of having an absent mother. And Lee’s Fabiola might be a STEM mastermind, but she’s struggling with feelings that she can’t necessarily quantify: coming to terms with her queer sexuality and finding the words to tell her overbearing mother.
“It’s a very important story to tell to young people, especially some people who are going through that and don't necessarily know how,” she says. “[I hoped] just to let them know that they're not alone and maybe hopefully give them courage to be able to do that for themselves. To question their own sexuality and maybe be open about it and not be ashamed of it.
Compared to Fabiola’s high school experience, Lee’s was completely different. Originally from Victorville, California, she attended a performing arts high school in the High Desert, where students could even learn how to do aerial silks and contortion along with your typical singing, acting, and musical theater. Lee originally enrolled for singing, but also studied dance, piano, and eventually developed a passion for acting. She didn’t mind the spotlight, often performing in the school’s plays and active in the drama club. Activities that Fabiola would probably never find herself participating in (but hey, you never know with theater kid Eleanor as a BFF).
The young performer has also become passionate about bringing awareness to colorism. She’d like to write and be able to open doors for other people of color, especially those with darker complexions. She’s hoping that people with darker skin aren’t continually overlooked and that their voices are heard.
“It’s something I see a lot on social media. For darker skin POCs, they feel like they’re not being represented enough by lighter shade black women,” she says. “It’s something I definitely want to be helping and opening more doors with. It’s very, very important so that everybody feels represented.”
As for future roles, she’d like to sink her teeth into some drama. She loves romantic movies and would love to be in a film a la Dear John. A musician at heart, she’s been writing her own music and wanting to put that out into the world. She’s still getting the hang of balancing her acting and singing career.
With Never Have I Ever portraying a variety of young women from different backgrounds and families and goals, a flurry of Lee’s dreams have already been realized. She’s hoping that the series and its characters will inspire other young women as well.
“It matters to be able to see yourself on screen,” she says. “That's so important for young girls growing up to be able to see themselves and say, ‘Hey, I can do that too.’”
Related: Meet the Cast of Netflix's Never Have I Ever, Your Next Fave Teen Comedy
