The cast of Netflix’s comedy Never Have I Ever aren’t actually high schoolers anymore! When the fan-favorite series premiered on the streaming service in April 2020, fans were immediately captured by the relatable nature of main character, Devi, a 16-year-old just trying to figure life out. Although the protagonist and her friends are still students dealing with teenage problems, the actors are not.
Starring Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Darren Barnet, Jaren Lewison, Ramona Young, Lee Rodriguez, newcomer Megan Suri and more, Never Have I Ever definitely did a great job of turning these actors into teenage versions of themselves. As it turns out, some of them are actually way older than the characters they play. Following the show’s premiere, Darren, for one, reflected on his time in real school before heading back to fictional high school.
“High school Darren was a kid from across town,” the Florida native told Variety in May 2020. My mom, a single parent who, at the time, was very low-income, said I had to go to a better school. I took a test to get into a school across town and was admitted into a magnet program. I had to take three college classes a semester. I had to keep a 3.5 GPA to stay.”
He continued, “Honestly, I had no life outside of academia and sports because my mom told me, ‘We can’t afford college, but you have to go. So, wherever you go, you have to get a full ride.’ So, that was the pressure on me … Now I’m in real life and in a career that’s unpredictable and in the most competitive industry in the world, and there has not been one day that I have been more stressed out than I was in high school.”
Shortly after Never Have I Ever became a hit, the show was renewed for a second season (which premiered in July 2021) with new characters and a continuation of Darren’s character, Paxton, and his budding love story with Devi.
“Paxton’s always turned a blind eye to her and thinks he’s better than her and cooler than her, so there’s something there where, maybe, Paxton doesn’t deserve her,” the actor also told Variety about what he hopes to see as the show continues. “Being Team Devi – she doesn’t need a guy to define her or make her better or fulfill her.”
Prepare for Never Have I Ever season 2 by discovering the cast’s real ages. Scroll through our gallery for a complete breakdown.
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