Ambika Mod on returning to the stage in 'Every Brilliant Thing' in the West End

One Day star Ambika Mod talks about her improv roots, the craziness of the last few years, and tackling the one-person show Every Brilliant Thing in the West End.

Before Ambika Mod found fame for her screen roles, she was a seasoned performer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, putting on shows as one half of comedy duo Megan from HR while studying English at Durham University. “Sketch comedy was my drama school. Learning improv transformed the way I approached acting,” she says. “It’s given me a shorthand for being on stage and interacting with the audience.”

It feels fitting, therefore, that Mod’s next project connects her to those improv roots, as she stars in a one-act play that she saw at her very first fringe: Duncan Macmillan’s Every Brilliant Thing, which she describes as a “perfect mix of theatre and stand-up”.

The show comes to @sohoplace this autumn. It’s a venue Mod is already familiar with as she guest starred in Nassim Soleimanpour’s experimental White Rabbit, Red Rabbit last year, which saw her take to the stage with a script that she had never seen before.

Mod will perform Every Brilliant Thing in rep (2-26 September) with Lenny Henry (1-30 August), co-creator Jonny Donahoe (13 August-1 September), Sue Perkins (4-27 September), and Minnie Driver (13 October-7 November). Ever modest about her appearance in a line-up that includes “national treasure, comedy icon Lenny Henry”, she believes part of the beauty of the show is that it can be played by anyone, with Macmillan adapting it for each performer.

The play sees a child (the narrator) write a list of every brilliant thing in life following their mother’s suicide attempt. “It’s a show about depression, life, and love,” Mod explains. “There’s a lot of audience participation, as they play different characters from the narrator’s life. The show is so moving in its simplicity.”

The story follows its narrator over the course of 20 years, which means there is a lot for audience members of all ages to connect with. “I’ve experienced and lived with depression, so it feels very close to home,” says Mod. “There’s a lot in it that feels really personal and connected to me and that’s the beauty of the play.”

She believes now is the perfect time to do the show. “It was exactly what I needed at this point in my life, after the craziness of the last few years — to return to something I loved early on in my career. To have the challenge of doing a one-person show in the West End is going to be really enlightening.”

The craziness she’s referring to is a string of defining screen roles, from the gruelling BBC drama This is Going to Hurt opposite Ben Whishaw, in which she played burnt-out junior doctor Shruti Acharya, to romantic Netflix series One Day alongside Leo Woodall, and the Billie Piper-fronted dark comedy I Hate Suzie. Just this year, she has appeared in the Disney+ series The Stolen Girl, with Denise Gough and Holliday Grainger, as well as the thriller Black Bag, with an all-star cast including Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Pierce Brosnan, and more.

Given that her star has risen so quickly, does Mod now feel pressure with each new role? “Emma Thompson said to me, ‘There's no such thing as a career. There's only what you do next’.” Mod continues: “I don’t have anyone to answer to but myself — you've just got to follow the next thing that excites you. Because if this job isn't fun, it's really not worth doing.”

She admits that her most recognisable roles, in One Day and This is Going to Hurt, have set the bar high. “I had two complete, full-package dream jobs that came to me early in my career, and that’s so rare. I always tell myself that my criteria for a job is: would I enjoy watching this? And am I going to come out of this a better actor?”

Mod is also challenging herself later this year in Sophia Chetin-Leuner’s provocatively titled Porn Play at the Royal Court, which appealed to her instantly because “it felt so juicy, but also so different”. She’s keen to involve herself in new writing, and the opportunity to work with former Donmar Warehouse and Bush Theatre artistic director Josie Rourke was too good to turn down. Mod only has a week to prepare between Every Brilliant Thing and Porn Play — and right in the middle is her 30th birthday. “It’s a really big week for me,” she laughs.

Reflecting on her younger self toiling away at the fringe, a girl who she describes as “scrappy, tenacious, and relentless”, what would she say to her now? “Don’t compromise and keep going. I’m very grateful to her for not relenting.” Based on Mod’s impressive career trajectory over the past few years, we are too.

Book Every Brilliant Thing and Porn Play tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

This article first appeared in the August 2025 issue of London Theatre Magazine.

Photo credit: Ambika Mod. (Photo by Oliver Rosser). Inset: in One Day, the other solo performers in Every Brilliant Thing. (Photos: Netflix, Oliver Rosser)