Taste Test
What is “good taste” anyway? Allow your favorite actor, musician, celebrity or comedian to let you in on what they’re watching, reading, and consuming.
You probably know Poorna Jagannathan from the Kalingverse: In 2020, the actress starred as Dr. Nalini Vishwakumar Never Have I Ever …, where she stole scenes with her exacting and nuanced portrayal of a South Asian immigrant mom in all her tenderness and no-nonsense severity. (Think a grounding that lasts until your future kids graduate, a fear more powerful than that of God.) Up next, she plays a mob-boss consigliere in Deli Boys. The comedy, which aired on Hulu on March 6, follows a pair of ultrapampered Pakistani American Philly brothers whose lives are upended after the sudden death of their convenience-store-magnate father (Iqbal Theba). Jagannathan’s Lucky Auntie steps into the void he leaves behind to take care of the two man-babies — and shepherd them into their father’s real business, which is less bootstrapped, model-minority, “I came here with ten dollars in my pocket’ American Dream shtick and more “Let’s make real money smuggling kilos of cocaine in jars of achar.” Farcical fight scenes, a myriad of Godfather references, and a healthy smattering of drug-lord grit ensue. (As one of the brothers puts it, “It’s up to us to enjoy this life for everyone who looks like us but doesn’t have it. That’s the secret to living in America, man, work is for our white slaves.”)
Cutting a striking figure in shoulder pads and furs, Lucky Auntie is the beating heart of the whole operation, an effortlessly chic, competent gangster and a bit of a mollycoddler who carries out a hit in one breath and carefully wipes the blood splatters from beta’s eyes the next. But when Jagannathan’s agent first sent her the pilot script for the series, just two weeks after she wrapped filming the final two seasons of Never Have I Ever … back-to-back, she fell in love with the project without even knowing how essential her character would become. “It was instant chemistry, like when you go on a first date and you know you’re going to marry that person,” Jagannathan tells me when she stops by the New York Magazine offices the day of the show’s premiere. “ That dark, absurdist, farcical humor was my sweet spot,” she continues between veggie sticks and sips of tea from the pantry. (“We’re breaking stereotypes,” she tells me as we both struggle to heat up the water). Below, Jagannathan speaks about drawing mobster inspiration from The Real Housewives of Orange County, her love of Doechiii, and the magic of a killer script.
As a brown girl from the tristate area who will watch anything mob-boss related, I devoured this show, and Lucky Auntie is the auntie of my dreams. She can fight like a cartoon character and makes excellent roti rolls in times of distress. How did the series come your way?
My agent brought me the pilot script right after I had just finished filming Never Have I Ever …. When I finally got around to reading it, it was fantastic, like going on a great first first date and knowing you’re going to marry that person. You’re a little like, Ugh, this isn’t the right time, I’m in another relationship, but you know it. Lucky Auntie is a small part in the pilot, and I didn’t know what her trajectory was going to be. They hadn’t written the rest of the scripts. But the humor was my humor. And the writer writes in opposites: He writes the two brothers as opposites, and he writes situations that are opposite right next to each other. A sweet, sincere moment with a sinister moment following it where the comedy is, right? It’s that seesaw that I love. I didn’t expect Lucky to be running the show.
She definitely runs the show. Before Deli Boys, your portrayal of an Indian immigrant mom on Never Have I Ever … received so many well-deserved flowers. Being a gun-wielding consigliere somehow feels like a natural extension of that.
To a gangster, right? When cameras weren’t rolling in Never Have I Ever …, I’d be cursing. There’s so much of Nalini in me, and she let me channel a particular part of me. I’m an immigrant mother to a teenager who went off to college on the same trajectory as in the show. It’s the closest role to real life I think I’ll ever play. But Lucky embodies another aspect of me, the slapstick over-the-topness. I’ve always loved watching physical comedy. I remember being 7 years old and watching Airplane and thinking, This is what I find funny.
Lucky’s style is also exquisite. What was your favorite look?
Cailey Breneman, who is our costume director, told me, “Lucky carries the weight of the world on her shoulders so let’s really get them shoulder-padded up.” You see the shoulder pads before you see Lucky. It’s a shoulder to cry on. She’s all shoulder. As for my favorite looks, I’m biased. I’m very connected to South Asian designers. There’s a blue outfit by Shweta Kapur that I love. The wedding outfits are done by a Pakistani friend of mine, Hassan Sheheryar Yasin. I worked with him when I launched the film Delhi Belly in 2011, and we’ve stayed friends. He designed all the wedding outfits out of Pakistan.
Time for a little taste test. Where do you get your best culture recommendations from?
My husband is really plugged in. I have a friend, Mitra Kalita, who is a wonderful journalist and also keeps me so plugged in. Her husband’s an artist, so she knows all the galleries and movies and plays. It’s a weird skill.
Great to have a friend like that. You need a culture friend, a doctor friend.
I have a gut-specialist friend. And they’re all Desis.
You’re hopping in an Uber XL and can bring five celebrities, living or dead. Who’s coming?
I like Jamie Foxx a lot. I’ve never met him, I just love his work. Then my best friend Sarita Choudhury, Richa Moorjani, Mindy Kaling, and Lilly Singh, who would bring the Punjabi party. Jamie would be the only oddball in the bevvy of brown women.
What’s the last meal you cooked for dinner?
You’re so sweet! I don’t cook. The last meal I made was a cup of chai. I grind all the spices and let it boil for a long time. I add cinnamon, cloves, and bay leaves, my new addition, with a little black pepper.
What was your pre-filming ritual for Deli Boys?
When I’m acting, I try to find a character close to mine, but in a documentary. That’s my go-to. I went everywhere to find Lucky, but couldn’t find her anywhere. I looked at documentaries of mobsters, of women who used to be mobsters, of women married to mobsters. I tried non-documentaries like The Sopranos and then finally The Housewives came to mind. I went through all of them and landed on Orange County. It’s very life and death in Orange County. All of them are fantastic, and they’re the most physically expressive of the housewives.
What’s your comfort rewatch?
Fuck all the rest. It’s Law and Order SVU. Olivia Benson stays so connected and emotional, so empathetic. It’s a formula, but you go on that ride and feel. I love crying. I love feeling my heartbeat really fast. Law and Order does that every time.
That’s a beautiful homage. What’s something you’ll never, ever watch, no matter what?
I didn’t think I’d watch a bloody medical show, but I’m really into The Pitt right now. It’s unbelievable, and there’s so many brown women on it, which is such a shift. It’s from the creators of ER, and we are doctors and nurses but don’t show up there. So The Pitt is an evolution and so good.
What music or playlist do you listen to when you’re alone?
I’m a little all over the map. I love Sade and Leonard Cohen. I’m also really into Doechii right now. I love her. I love MF Doom, and my kid listens to a lot of Playboy Cartii, so I’ll listen to Playboy Cartii, too. Now that he’s gone to school, it’s a good memory. He’s also into a band called Death Grips, which I didn’t know at first, but he’s really into them and believe it or not, they’ve grown on me. When he first played them, there’s that reaction your immigrant parents have when they listen: “What, you call that music? Someone screaming at you?” The Deli Boys creator, Abdullah Saeed, is a big fan of them too, so their music is in the show.
I’d always lower the volume to anything vaguely inappropriate around my mom. And switch off the sex scenes.
When I was visiting home from college, I remember coming into the kitchen while my mom was washing the dishes. She was like, “Pour some sugar on me.” She had no fucking idea what was going on with that Def Leppard song. She was oblivious, just singing
Name a book you couldn’t put down.
Catch & Kill by Ronan Farrow. I literally walked around with it. I used to read a lot and don’t read as much and find myself going from fiction to nonfiction now for whatever reason. I couldn’t believe the audacity of the perpetrators and also the enablers. I can’t get over it.
What’s the worst thing to do at a dinner party?
Cornering someone and talking about your IBS situation, which I love doing.
But you have a GI-doctor friend! What would your last meal be?
My mother’s spaghetti with sauce. We’re vegetarians, and I grew up in places like Brazil and Argentina in the ’80s. They have steak for breakfast. When you went to a restaurant and said you’re vegetarian, you get a small piece of chicken with salad. So we just ate at home all the time. We ate South Indian food all the fucking time. So my mom made this spaghetti with the most amazing tomato sauce with lots of Indian spices, kind of like a curry. It was amazing.
I’ve always felt pasta sauce and Indian food could talk to each other a little more.
Oh yes, and they do in my house.
What type of achar would be your last dollop of achar?
Mango. Mango’s wonderful.
The Bedekar brand.
They’re amazing. Also Priya, the other achar brand.
Yes! Priya garlic pickle…
Oh my God, my heart is beating fast.
