The creator of the Netflix series Never Have I Ever has addressed the backlash surrounding the "creepy" age gap between the show's lead actors.
Never Have I Ever is a teen comedy that follows the story of first-generation Indian-American teenager, Devis Vishwakumar (played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), and her experiences navigating high school, friendships, and relationships. Darren Barnet plays Paxton Hall-Yoshida, Devis' love interest.
The series has been praised for its portrayal of Indian-American characters and its commitment to breaking away from negative stereotypes surrounding the Indian community that are often prevalent in TV shows and movies.
However, the series had its fair share of negativity, mainly surrounding the real-life age gap between Ramakrishnan and Barnet. (As of this writing, Ramakrishnan is 20 years old and her co-star, Barnet, is 31.)
Some fans have even taken to Twitter to voice their opinions on how the age-gap between the actors made them feel.
One person wrote: "Time to watch the new season of Never Have I Ever and complain about how creepy the age gap between Paxton's and Devis' actors are [sic]."
Another fan added: "I wanna watch Never Have I Ever season 2 but I just can't get over the age gap between the actors."
"Whenever I watch Never Have I Ever I can't see past the fact that the Paxton actor is 31… I don't like that age gap [sic]," someone else chimed in.
A further tweet focused on the casting of an adult as a high schooler, saying: "Paxton in Never Have I Ever IS cute but the age gap is real evident.... casting older actors to play high schoolers isn't gonna work forever."
Discussing the situation with Newsweek, Lang Fisher - who co-created the show with Mindy Kaling - stated that the age gap wasn't intentional.
"From the get-go we wanted these kids to feel like authentic teens. In Riverdale, sometimes they wear what you would wear if you were a lawyer going to work, or they're dressed like PR executives," she revealed.
"They all seem so mature. We wanted [our cast] to feel like real teens. Our one outlier is Darren, who is in his late 20s. You can't ask someone how old they are when they audition. You just have to assume that they're a reasonable age," the writer and producer admitted.
Check out the trailer for the hit show below:Commenting on the fact certain viewers believe Darren, who plays Paxton, appears far too old to play a teenage boy, Fisher added: "And the other thing I will say, when you see an actual 15-year-old boy, they're just not going to be a heartthrob. They look like a tiny baby."
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