- Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for season one of Netflix’s “Never Have I Ever.”
- “NHIE” stars Jaren Lewison (Ben Gross) and Darren Barnet (Paxton Hall-Yoshida) spoke to Insider about the show’s love triangle which involves their characters and Devi Vishwakumar (played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan).
- Lewison told Insider that “Ben relates to Devi in a lot of ways and he definitely cares for her.”
- Barnet told us that Paxton has been a “knight in shining armor,” plus Ben has “been really terrible to her for her entire life” and has a girlfriend.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
“Never Have I Ever” stars Jaren Lewison and Darren Barnet weighed in on the Netflix show’s love triangle.
Lewison, who stars as Ben Gross, and Barnet, who plays Paxton-Hall Yoshida spoke to Insider during separate interviews and broke down who they think is a better match for protagonist Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan).
“NHIE,” which was cocreated by Lang Fisher and Mindy Kaling, begins at the start of Devi’s sophomore year at Sherman Oaks High School in California as she tries to rebrand as a cool person at school.
Part of her plan to become popular involves losing her virginity to Paxton, an attractive member of the school’s swim team who has three fan accounts on Tumblr. They don’t actually have sex, but she leads her best friends to believe that they did and the lie spirals out of control.
She's also constantly trying to one-up Ben, her academic rival and nemesis, in history class and extracurricular activities.
Gradually, a love triangle involving Devi, Ben, and Paxton forms.
Lewison is Team Ben because of how similar his character and Devi are
"I'm going to be Team Ben," the 19-year-old actor told us. "I think that Ben relates to Devi in a lot of ways and he definitely cares for her. He's genuine about it. I like that they challenge each other, personality-wise and academically."
Throughout the season, Ben and Devi slowly started to understand each other better, outside of their rivalry. During the finale, he drove Devi to Malibu so she could spread her dad's ashes with her mom and cousin. After realizing that Ben waited to make sure Devi was OK, she kissed him.
Lewison said that despite Ben and Devi competing against each other since the first grade, he doesn't think he was in love with her as a child.
"I think that he liked the challenge, and I think Devi did too and that's why they continued that competition and they had different clubs that they were separate in and they were each pushing each other to be better," he told us.
He continued: "But I think those romantic feelings developed when they saw different sides of each other. You know, when Ben saw how driven and smart and witty and kind Devi could be, starting in even episode two and going up."
Lewison said that for him, the moment when Devi cried in front of Ben made his character realize that "she's got feelings that are as deep or deeper than his."
"I think that's something that he was craving," the actor said. "So then when he saw those mixed with how she was trying to balance everything and take on school, her friends, club, her family, dealing with so many different things, I think that was something that started to attract Ben."
Barnet is 80% Paxton and 20% Ben
Devi had a complicated relationship with Paxton during season one, but he also kissed her at the end of episode eight after she opened up about feeling like everyone in her life was "done" with her.
"It's very interesting because Paxton's been good to her," Barnet told us. "I mean, Paxton has saved her from parties, he's been kind of a knight in shining armor in certain points."
The actor admitted that Ben and Devi are "more compatible" because of their shared love for school and extracurricular activities, but there are a few issues.
"Ben has also been really terrible to her for her entire life," the actor said. "And let's not forget Ben has a girlfriend. I don't get down with that."
"I'm gonna say I'm like 80% Paxton, 20% Ben, but only because I love Jaren Lewison," Barnet added.
Noticing how determined Devi was to fix her fractured relationship with her family was 'what sold it for Ben'
"Seeing how much she loves her family, her friends, her everything, I think was really what sold it for Ben in that last episode and where he was ready to drive her to Malibu," Lewison said. "He says he won't throw his life away for her, but I think if he got pulled over, it wouldn't have been so good for Ben."
Before Ben and Devi can even consider being in a relationship, Lewison thinks that they have some work to do. Plus, Ben's still technically dating a shallow girl named Shira.
"I think that Ben does have a long way to go," Lewison said of a possible romance for Ben and Devi. "And I think Devi does too. Devi is still working on learning how to be a better friend and learning how to balance time with friends and boys."
Barnet thinks that Paxton became intrigued by Devi after he apologized and looked back at her as he walked away from her house
"It's that classic look back," Barnet said of the moment, which happened during episode two. "That's definitely showing that he likes her and I think it's because she's just so out of the ordinary for Paxton."
He added: "At face value, he looks at her and he's like, 'Oh, I'm too cool to be in relationship with you,' because he's used to being with the most popular girl in school and chasing all those cliches. But I think finding a girl that is so unashamed to just go for what she wants, I think he's thrown back and is like, 'Wow.'"
"I don't know if he starts liking her at that point, but I think she definitely catches his intrigue," Barnet said.
If the show does get renewed for a second season, Lewison would be interested to see what steps Ben and Devi take next
"I think they both have a lot of personal growth to do, so in season two, I don't know where it's going to go with their relationship and how their maturity level fares and how they're gonna react to different situations that they both find themselves in - if they're going to band together or if they're going to fall into old ways," Lewison said.
"So I guess that's something that we have to find out, hopefully."
- Read more:
- 'Never Have I Ever' star Darren Barnet on his favorite scene from season 1, 'humanizing' Paxton Hall-Yoshida, and forging his own path
- 'Never Have I Ever' star Jaren Lewison breaks down the show's first 10 episodes and what he hopes to see in season 2
- 11 best coming-of-age movies you can stream right now