Just like Devi Vishwakumar, Never Have I Ever fans have been thirsting over her teenage heartthrob, Paxton Hall-Yoshida - mostly owing to the fact that within just a few seconds, he is top off, abs out.
But thanks to the writing integrity of co-creators Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher - as well as the talent of actor Darren Barnet who plays him - there’s much more to Paxton than meets the eye. And the same can be said for Barnet.
The LA-born actor has been slogging it for years in the City of Dreams, facing repeated last-minute disappointments and rejections, to get to where he is now.
So here are 15 trivia nuggets about Darren Barnet that can help us - in his own words - to “dig deeper than the abs.”
1. He’s 29 years old
Barnet is 11 years older than his 18-year-old co-star Maitreyi Ramakshrinan, and 12 years older than his character Paxton.
Born on April 27, 1991, he is 29 years old.
2. He’s not interested in being just a heartthrob
He told Page Six: “I took the role knowing that they wanted Paxton to be more than that, so I don’t mind that that’s what catches the eye about him.
"Shamelessly, he’s kind of a thirst trap, but I love that they humanise him and they let me humanise him.”
3. His Instagram following grew by half a million in a week
Darren Barnet wasn’t exactly an Instagram enigma to start with, having over 30,000 followers before the show began.
But after his first appearance in Never Have I Ever, his following skyrocketed to 700,000 in 10 days. Now, it’s fast approaching the 1 million mark.
4. His Japanese-American heritage was integrated into his character
The show's co-creators Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher placed importance on appropriate casting, and when they discovered Barnet was Japanese-American, they asked if that could be incorporated into his character. The double-barrel “Yoshida” was added to Paxton’s surname to reflect this.
But Barnet told Variety he was initially concerned about representing the mixed-race community and worried Asian-American viewers would think: “Wow, they went with this guy when they could have picked a lot more ‘Asian’ of a person.” In fact, the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
While he has Japanese heritage, Barnet was born and raised in Los Angeles, California.
5. He is trilingual
Barnet speaks Japanese and French, as well as English - and also a little Spanish.
6. He deals with a lot of inappropriate DMs
Barnet has spoken out about being inundated with sometimes inappropriate messages, revealing that up to 200 new DMs await him each time he refreshes his phone.
He said he does his best to reply to considerate messages, but ignores perverted ones.
In one bizarre incident, a fan sent him photos of his sisters, writing: “I wish I was your sister.”
7. He knows ‘manliness’ is overrated
Reflecting on how he has always looked younger than his age, he said: “It used to really upset me as a kid because I thought it made me less manly. But now it’s really started to be a blessing.”
8. Still, he spent a whole month at the gym
He has confessed to spending the best part of a month in the gym to prepare to play the often-topless character.
9. He’s no stranger to the screen
Barnet has previously appeared in This is Us, S.W.A.T., Criminal Minds, Turnt and Family Reunion, but Never Have I Ever is his first major starring role.
10. He got the whole cast to go bowling the first time they met
During the show’s initial reading - the first time the cast met - they were given three hours to bond.
Barnet suggested they go bowling, and the rest is history.
11. He is quarantining alone
He has vlogged about his lonely isolation, which (other than a lot of working out) involves writing a screenplay.
12. He’s got a real estate license
MTV did some digging and found that Barnet possesses a California real estate license.
Other unexpected skills (if his old SoundCloud handle - Charlie Sound - is anything to go by) include rapping and making hip-hop beats.
13. He’s got irons in the fire
Barnet is soon to step into the Marvel universe, as a mystery character in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
He will also be starring in the up-and-coming American Pie Presents: Girls’ Rules.
14. He thinks High School Musical is ‘an American classic’
When co-star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan confessed to never having seen any of the High School Musical movies during a co-interview, Barnet - as we can only describe it - flipped out. He then called the franchise “an American classic”.
15. He does a great Devi impression
See for yourself:
Never Have I Ever is available to stream on Netflix now
