Who Plays Paxton On 'Never Have I Ever'? Meet Darren Barnet, Star Of Mindy Kaling's New Netflix Show
Everything to know about Darren Barnet from 'Never Have I Ever'.
Instagram Now that Mindy Kaling's new Netflix show, Never Have I Ever, is finally here, fans can't stop talking about season one, which dropped April 27 on the streaming platform.
One member of the cast who's already caught fan's eyes is Darren Barnet, who plays Paxton, one of main character Devi's classmates.
Who plays Paxton on Never Have I Ever?
Here's everything you need to know.
Fans might recognize Barnet from his other roles.
Before Never Have I Ever, Barnet appeared in shows including Criminal Minds and Turnt. One of his most notable guest starring appearances? Playing a young Jack Pearson on This Is Us, which had to have been a pretty cool experience.
He almost starred in the After movies.
Barnet was up for the lead role in the After franchise, and while that would have been huge for him, Never Have I Ever filming ended up being a conflict, and the role ultimately went to Dylan Sprouse instead. But according to Barnet himself, there are no hard feelings.
I adore the After fans and the whole franchise because they're a movement and it's beautiful to watch. I thought all of them were going to leave me, but they stuck behind me," he said in an interview. "Anna Todd has been super supportive. She is always commenting on my stuff, like, 'I'm so happy for you,' this and this and that. She's an absolute sweetheart. Love that franchise. Love Anna Todd. Love the After fans."
Who is Darren Barnet? He's an actor who shares his professional life on Instagram.
Barnet is a 29-year-old actor who seems pretty dedicated to his career — his Instagram account is mostly made up of peeks into his professional life, from modeling shots to updates on the projects he's working on, including the new Netflix series. He doesn't tend to share too much of his personal life, but he does share the occasional throwback photo from his childhood now and then.
He loves the rest of the Never Have I Ever cast.
In a recent interview, Barnet opened up about how quickly he bonded with his new castmates.
"We bonded immediately! We went to the table read and then we had a three-hour gap. We tried to walk around the Universal lot. We couldn’t do that, so we were like, 'Okay, do you all wanna go bowling?' We go bowling, I have everyone in my car, and we come back and they’re like, “What happened? Are you guys okay?” So that definitely brought us together," he shared.
He graduated from Berry College.
In 2013, Barnet graduated from Berry, where he studied theater, and it didn't take long after before his screen acting career began. It seems like he must have been a pretty talented young actor, because he also happened to have received a full ride scholarship from the school. Not too shabby!
He's been acting ever since.
Barnet has recently said that while he initially took a stab at acting as a kid, it wasn't until college that he really pursued it seriously, and now, it sounds like his hard work has paid off.
"My dad took me to an agent when I was seven. It was for a very Nickelodeon-style thing and he was like, 'You’re too shy.' I left it for years, but I always knew I wanted to do it," he said. "In college, I got back to it. I did plays. I started making film again and I really loved it. I had a potential job lined up, and I wanted to go into journalism — or moreso my mom did, but I wanted to move to LA and be an actor. She was like, '…okay, let’s do that.' But now she’s my biggest fan."
Nicole Pomarico is an entertainment and lifestyle writer whose work has appeared in Cosmo, Us Weekly, Refinery29, and more.