Netflix’s ‘Never I Have I Ever’: What are the cast up to after season 2?
Mindy Kaling’s Never Have I Ever follows the story of Devi Vishwakumar & her friends as they navigate the ups & downs of a typical high school journey. Devi’s life is anything but typical. An overachieving Indian-American high school student, Devi’s reeling in the aftermath of her dad’s death. It doesn’t help that the death occurred at a school event & that she doesn’t see eye-to-eye with her mother.
She has her friends to help her through all this. Soon, she also gets entwined in a love triangle of sorts with the school hunk and the school nerd. The show has quickly found a steady fan following, shooting the main actors into stardom. It was also lauded widely for its contribution to mainstream representation & for its sensitive handling of grief as a theme.
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan
At the age of 19, Maitreyi has won over our hearts through her portrayal of the fallible protagonist. Epitomising Gen-Z, Maitreyi has left no doubts about her acting prowess. In fact, she was named a Breakout Actor in Time 100’s Most Influential People.
While season 3 goes under construction, it was announced last month that she will be starring in The Netherfield Girls, a romcom with a literary twist. Think modern-day Pride and Prejudice following in on the footsteps of comedies like Easy A.
Maitreyi has bagged the role of Lizzie Bennet, the protagonist yet again. We’re excited to see her bring her Gen-Z zing into the portrayal of a feminine character, as she goes from a hate-to-love relationship.
Darren Barnet
Darren Barnet plays the popular high school hunk Paxton Hall-Yoshida & Devi’s love interest in the show. It’s a complicated character — a popular kid who isn’t too good at academics, who hangs out with guys even dumber than him, and whose clutch to get into college on a scholarship is a sport, in his case, swimming.
As Barnet reels in the glory of the second season, he’s also preparing to be in a Christmas movie called Love Hard. Starring alongside Nina Dobrev (of The Vampire Diaries fame) & comedian Jimmy O. Yang, Barnet is looking at a Christmas release in 2021. The romcom will follow Natalie, played by Nina, as she falls prey to a catfish during Christmas.
Jaren Lewison
20-year-old Jaren Lewison plays Devi’s love interest & her academic competitor. He comes from a rich family, but his parents couldn’t care less about him. Lewiston has no fancy plans in terms of upcoming movies. In a recent interview, he shared that he loves film and wants to do more of that. He said, “I’ve been super busy, but I’m really looking forward to diving into a film. I think there’s so much that I can learn.”
He’s also, however, looking forward to being back in school. “On a personal note, I just want to, y’know, get back to school and enjoy every moment. I’m so excited to get back on campus and be back with my friends. I know that so many people are so excited to get back to their coursework and being in person as well,” he added.
Megan Suri
Megan Suri joined the cast in the second season of Never Have I Ever as the second Indian girl on campus. She & Devi had a bumpy friendship. From inadvertently exposing her eating disorder, to being unnecessarily competitive with her, Devi left no stone unturned to create a big deal out of Suri’s Aneesa Qureshi. In the season finale, we saw Ben Gross reeling in his feelings for Devi while he’s still dating Aneesa, so we’re definitely looking forward to seeing how that unfolds.
In the meantime, Suri will be seen in the horror film Searching 2 as Veena. Previously, we saw her in Netflix’s Atypical alongside Kier Gilchrist, Brigette Lundy-Paine, and Nik Dodani.
