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PROFILE “A Walk on the Wild Side” Actress Navi Rawat Goes from Burn Notice to an African Safari Words by Vanessa Pascale • Photography by Joey Shaw On a balmy Friday evening in the posh pool patio area of Santa Monica Beach’s Shangri-La Hotel, stunning natural beauty Navi Rawat and I bonded over a shared love for a certain housewife, one of her favorite pastimes and our Floridian roots. Most recognized for her five- year run on CBS’ crime show hit Numb3rs as Amita Ramanujan, mathematician and girlfriend of David Krumholtz’s character, the gregarious actress spoke candidly about life after Numb3rs. Sad to see Numb3rs end earlier this year, [“The last day of the show I was very emotional. I basically cried for 17 hours straight...”] Navi went on to her next project – a guest spot on USA’s Burn Notice. Much different from her character on Numb3rs, Navi played Kendra, the not-so-good girl. “It was really fun to kick off Numbers with something that was so different, and kind of a wild, crazy character. She’s a wild card,” Navi explained with excitement. “I did a lot of my own stunts, and had a stunt- double woman who did a lot of my work for me, since I had to do stuff with Jeffrey [Donovan]. God forbid I hurt their leading man. That would be something that would happen to me. I have a funny life, kind of, like haha funny, but only if you’re not in it…,” she joked. Her Burn Notice character only appears in a couple of episodes, but you never know where a role can go. Her role on Numb3rs actually began as a guest spot. “When it first started, I was contractually obligated to 66 MIAMI LIVING another show. After that show went away, it was actually The O.C., I became a regular on Numb3rs. You never dream— ideally, you always hope. I hope my show goes for years and that one [Numb3rs] did,” she said cheerfully. The fact that Burn Notice films in Miami was an added bonus for Navi, since this is where she grew up. “It was a fun city to grow up in. The best thing I ever got from Miami is my friends. Getting Burn Notice was the dream job. When I got the job, they were like, Do you want to stay in a hotel? I’m like, Hell no, I'm staying with my family (whom she is very close to),” expressed Navi. A true Miami fan, she continued, “I love Miami. I’m there all the time. It’s a great city, especially since it’s changing so much, I see with the Wynwood Arts District, the Design District, all these places, it’s really kind of evolving.” She was also looking forward to seeing her friends. “It’s really WHO WOULD YOU LOVE TO WORK WITH? I’ve always been a big, big Clint Eastwood fan. I love him as a director. Darren Aronofsky is an amazing director and I love J.J. Abrams. nice to go home and have friends. All my friends from high school are my best friends to this day. I would hope for everybody that they have those kinds of relationships. And Miami’s fun because my dad lives on the beach, I meet up with my friends, either they pick me up or I take a taxi, we go have dinner, have some wine. It’s where I let loose and have a good time. Whereas here [Malibu], I’m very much here to work. I wouldn’t live here if it wasn’t for my work,” Navi confessed. Passionate about acting since high school, Navi went on to study at NYU. “I double majored because it was so