The co-creator for Never Have I Ever addressed the real-life age gap between its two main stars after fans described it as 'creepy'.
Season three of Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher's hit Netflix series dropped on the streaming service earlier this month, leaving fans raving about the show once more.
For the uninitiated, the coming-of-age comedy follows the life of a modern-day first-generation Indian American teenage girl named Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan).
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While viewers were immediately charmed by the character ever since the first season dropped in 2020, many have had the same complaint.
You see, one of Devi's love interests is Paxton (Darren Barnet), and while they both portray teenagers in the show, in real life there's an 11 year age gap between the two.
Ramakrishnan is currently 20 years old while Barnet is 31 – and since season one of the show started filming in 2019, that would've made them 17 and 28 respectively.
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Fans have made their thoughts on this fact known, with one writing on Twitter last year: "It's v creepy that everyone in Never Have I Ever thought it was okay to put 19 year old Maitreyi with a 30 year old dude Darren??? Does no one else see how thats just not a right age gap?"
Upon the release of season three, another said: "Time to watch the new season of Never Have I Ever and complain ab how creepy the age gap between Paxton and Devis actors are."
A third added: "Am I the only one a little weirded out by the age gap between Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Darren Barnet in Never Have I Ever?"
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Since the same sentiment has been shared every time a new season drops, Newsweek took the opportunity to question co-creator Fisher about the age gap in a Q&A about the show.
Fisher explained: "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.
"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.
"I don't think we found out what his age was until we were deep in the season and then we were like, 'Oh, OK.' I assumed he was, like, 20.
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"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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Topics: Netflix, Film and TV