The 31-year-old actor, who stars in teen comedy Never Have I Ever (2020-present) on Netflix, will also join the annual Pink with Purpose Project, a contest that fosters creativity among youths with a US$25,000 prize handout to 15 lucky winners in support of community, sustainability and mental health.
Barnet is also enlisted to join Mental Health Awareness Month events, sharing his own experiences on Instagram Live. He is “a positive role model for teens and young adults”, says Amy Hauk, Pink’s CEO.
So what else do we know about the rising star?
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1. He brought his Japanese heritage to his Netflix character
In the television series Never Have I Ever, Barnet’s character, Paxton Hall-Yoshida, was just Paxton Hall at first. But after the show’s producer Mindy Kaling saw Barnet speaking Japanese with the show’s assistant director, she requested the name be changed with the new addition, according to Teen Vogue. The name pays tribute to Barnet’s Japanese roots.
Born to a Japanese-Swedish mother and German-Cherokee father, Barnet spoke Japanese with his grandmother as a child and is very proud of his background, studying the language at school for two years, he told Glitter. He also speaks French fluently and a little Spanish.
Paxton’s Japanese heritage brought touching scenes to the show, like the uncovering of his grandfather’s imprisonment during the war. “I’ve had so many people reach out to thank me for the representation, or to tell me that their grandfather was in an internment camp and the scene made them cry. I’ve just been overjoyed,” he told Teen Vogue.
2. His love for acting began at age five thanks to Jim Carrey
Barnet was a huge fan of The Mask star Jim Carrey, thinking, “No one looks like they’re having more fun than this guy. I just fell in love with it,” he told Collider. After seeing the comedy Dumb and Dumber (1994), he pushed his mum to give him protagonist Lloyd Christmas’ hairstyle for months and would “run around the house impersonating him tirelessly”, he shared on his Instagram.
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Growing up, he tried various jobs and realised that he was not interested in anything in particular, but also wanted to do everything. “I couldn’t decide, and acting was the one place where I don’t have to decide,” he explained in his interview on Collider. “I can be a sports fanatic in a movie. I can play a lawyer. I can play a doctor. I can play someone struggling with a mental illness, and it forces me to really dive in and do research. I’m able to live at least a little bit of every single life, and it’s limitless.”
3. He looks up to Fight Club’s Tyler Durden and Leonardo DiCaprio’s characters
Barnet dressed like Tyler Durden for Halloween in 2018 and is an avid fan of the character. “David Fincher, please make another Fight Club and let me be Tyler Durden,” he said to Glitter.
The role would contrast against his existing roster of romcom and action films. He’s appeared on Netflix’s Love Hard (2021) alongside Jimmy O. Yang and Nina Dobrev, American Pie Presents: Girls’ Rules (2020), Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD (2020) and SWAT (2017).
But a character with “something dark and serious with layers to him and some psychosomatic thriller with a crazy twist at the end” is his dream role, he shared with Elle.
He also added that he was interested in the Joker and “pretty much anything Leo DiCaprio has done”.4. He is a huge Marvel and Netflix fan
Portraying Freddy Malick in Agents of SHIELD actually fulfilled one of Barnet’s dreams, as he’s “a fan of every Marvel movie” after watching the Spider-Man trilogy, per Insider. “I instantly became a huge fan of the movies, the cinematic experience is unrivalled,” he said. “I would love to dive even deeper into it. I would love to do a Marvel movie. I mean, I shoot for the moon in everything I do. So just being able to be a small part of the world and the show has been an absolute honour.”Princess Mako’s new life in NYC, from an unpaid internship to one-bedroom flat
Barnet is a regular on Netflix – both on and in front of the screen. His favourite way to relax is making a delicious dinner and catching up on Money Heist (2017-2021), he disclosed to Glitter. I am Not Okay With This (2020), Stranger Things (2016-present), and Freaks (2018) are other names on his go-to list. “I love Stranger Things and everyone behind those productions, so I knew it would be something that I would enjoy,” he told Brief Take. “Freaks, with Emile Hirsch, has become one of my new favourites – the writing, the twists and turns, it’s amazing!”5. He is also a producer
Besides acting, Barnet is also producing his first movie, thriller Apophenia, which he’s described as The Shining (1980) meets Shutter Island (2010), according to Interview magazine.
“I’m playing a character with schizophrenia, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder, so that has been a lot of fun. I’m very excited to show off that side of myself,” he told Collider.
6. … And a musician
When Barnet isn’t working on a film or watching Netflix, he writes rhymes and raps. His voice can be heard on his SoundCloud page.
Music runs in his family too. His grandfather, Charlie Barnet, was a famous saxophonist in the 1930s and his father was an agent for some of the greatest names like Jimi Hendrix and Earth, Wind & Fire, per Elite Daily.
“I think it’s just always been in my blood. I grew up writing poetry a lot and enjoyed writing poetry that rhymed. It was an easy segue that I started writing hip-hop at a young age and that was a natural transition. I think I get my rhythm from my grandfather and my dad, for sure,” he told Brief Take.
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