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Mild spoilers below forNever Have I Ever.
With a chiseled jawline and a tight shirt, he looks jacked.
Hes sitting there, smiling, like, Who the hell does this kid think he is?
First and most importantly: Are you Team Ben or Team Paxton?
Jaren Lewison: Obviously Ive gotta cheer for Team Ben.
But I do like Paxton and I think hes cool.
Darren Barnet: Thats how I feel when I see you in real life!
Id be like 25% Team Ben.
JL: Ill give you 25 percent.
DB: Ill give you 26!
What were your auditions like?
JL: We ended up seeing each other at our screen test.
We both thought we were auditioning for each others roles.
With a chiseled jawline and a tight shirt, he looks jacked.
DB: I saw Jaren there!
He came with a basketball jersey over this hoodie and these kicks on.
JL: I was a hypebeast!
I dont say anything.
I dont smile at you.
Hes just sitting there and smiling, and Im like, Who the hell does he think he is?
JL: I was just happy to be there, man.
DB: I was kinda threatened by you!
I thought you were gonna win over the whole room.
Did you have to do a chemistry read with Maitreyi?
The first time I met Maitreyi was at the table read.
I was like, Hey, Im Jaren.
Everybody met at the first table read, though I totally stalked everyone on Instagram.
Did they change your characters much after you got the parts?
DB: Definitely for me.
Lang and Mindy came up to me and were like, Were you speaking Japanese with Yuko?
But they were like, Do you mind if we make your character part-Japanese?
Thats how Paxton Hall-Yoshida was born.
JL: The writers wanted us to feel like the character was also part of us.
It was a collaborative effort.
They would come up to us and be like, If this dont feel right, tell us.
I think they wanted to add more depth to him.
They have me speaking Japanese very briefly, which adds some layers.
Theres a lot of ad libs in our interactions that they kept in there.
JL: I checked in with Trent a week or two ago!
His girlfriend gave it to him as a present!
It sounds like the cast was hanging out a lot.
DB: 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 couldnt do that, so we were like, Okay, do you all wanna go bowling?
Are you guys okay?
So that definitely brought us together.
DB: It was all of our first journey.
Its like every role I hadnt gotten couldve prevented me from doing this one.
This one is more special to me than any of the other ones could have been.
How much were you like Paxton or Ben in high school?
DB: I was an athlete.
Thats not my scenario.
My mom told me I had to do a sport no matter what.
I was tired of basketball, picked up lacrosse, and ended up being pretty good at it.
I was so focused on my studies, people may have thought I was a snob.
I can relate to Paxton in that I was a book judged by my cover.
I was quiet and I was reserved, and I had like one good friend.
Thats kind of Paxton before Devi gets to know him.
I can relate to his vulnerable side.
In terms of Bens academic pursuit of excellence, I also love school.
Im a student at USC.
DB:Im so proud of you, man!
JL: Thanks buddy.
In terms of Bens rudeness, I wouldliketo say I was not that guy in high school.
He can definitely come off as crude and rude before you understand why he acts the way he does.
I was really into sports.
I was not a dummy!
I could not have gotten away with that.
How did you both get into acting?
JL: I started when I was five.
DB: My dad took me to an agent when I was seven.
It was for a very Nickelodeon-style thing and he was like, Youre too shy.
I left it for years, but I always knew I wanted to do it.
In college, I got back to it.
I started making film again and I really loved it.
She was like, …okay, lets do that.
But now shes my biggest fan.
What was the hardest scene for each of you to film?
DB: Well, the countless hours in the gym leading up to taking off the shirt.
Getting out of the pool and the dream sequence.
Is it weird to be objectified?
The shows so much from Devis perspective, you have to be this dream object.
DB: Thankfully, a week or two in the gym and I can have a pretty solid transformation.
Im not crying about it.
Other than that, the kissing scene between Maitreyi and I.
That was, like, some stunt driving.
Anu Valia, the director, was giving a lot of great notes.
DB: I was working with Anu too on our kissing scene.
