All characters take inspiration from something. For the cast of "Master of None," the guiding light for their characters might be closer to home: themselves.
According to Aziz Ansari, his character Dev Shah is not semi-autobiographical but it is definitely easy to spot the similarities between them. The same is true for the rest of the gang in "Master of None," who have admitted that they have a number of things in common with the show's characters.
To Lena Waithe, Denise is a heightened version of her. Like the character, she's also very straightforward and truly loves her friends. However, that may be because Waithe's own personality had been used in shaping the Denise's role.
"I don't think they ever intended her to be African-American ... [or gay] but when Aziz met me, he was like, ‘I like what I'm seeing and I want to make the character a little more like you," she added, saying that the team behind "Master of None" were very cool about it, going back and rewriting the character to be able to reflect more of her personality.
Waithe also added that she and Ansari were a lot like Dev and Denise - they have natural chemistry, text silly things to each other all the time and share the same quirks like using their hands a lot, talk very fast and pay keen attention to very specific details.
Eric Wareheim, who plays Arnold Baumheiser in "Master of None," is Ansari's so-called "token white friend" in the show. He knows that he's the only white boy in the room and feels that it's based on his own real friendship with Ansari. The two had known each other prior to filming the show and had bonded heavily over a mutual love for pasta.
Noel Wells shares Rachel's affinity for unconventional first dates, recounting how her own first date with someone was at a strip club. Dev and Rachel went on an overnight trip to Nashville for their first date and the actress believes that jumping in like that makes it possible for someone to immediately see what people are made of.
There's no word yet on whether or not "Master of None" will be picked up again by Netflix for a second season, but, we're calling it: Dev Shah and his friends will be back.
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