"Never Have I Ever" Is One Of The Best Shows On Netflix And Here Are 22 Facts To Make You Love It Even More

    That shirtless scene was a lot harder to pull off than it looked.

    Shyla Watson
    by Shyla Watson

    BuzzFeed Staff

    1. Paxton Hall-Yoshida was originally just Paxton Hall, but the writers re-wrote him to be Japanese to match Darren Barnet's ethnicity.

    Courtesy Of Netflix / COURTESY OF NETFLIX

    The writers overheard him speaking Japanese on set and asked if he'd be comfortable with the change.

    2. Mindy Kaling did an open casting call on social media, in part because she wanted to get actors who were real high school age.

    3. Maitreyi Ramakrishnan was chosen out of 15,000 girls.

    Lara Solanki / LARA SOLANKI/NETFLIX

    "It’s still so surreal to me. It’s crazy to think like so many people around the world wanted to be a part of this. And it’s a nice feeling to know that," she told Variety.

    4. The 18-year-old only auditioned because it gave her and her best friend something to do together. They didn't even know how to work the camera to film the self-tape.

    5. When the producers reached out to her about flying to LA for a screen test, she ignored the call — thinking it was spam — and they had to email her.

    6. It took nearly one month for the 30-second Bollywood scene to come together.

    Lara Solanki / LARA SOLANKI/NETFLIX

    Choreographer Joya Kazi said that it took roughly 30 days to complete production, including hiring dancers, choreographing the scene, and finalizing costumes.

    7. The coyote Devi was attacked by in Episode 4 was 100% real.

    Courtesy Of Netflix / COURTESY OF NETFLIX

    Maitreyi pet the coyote IRL, but there was a trainer to oversee the interaction.

    8. Maitreyi learned to play the harp specifically for the show.

    Courtesy Of Netflix / COURTESY OF NETFLIX

    "That was so cool, being able to get harp lessons and learn a brand-new instrument," she revealed.

    9. After the table read, the cast had a three-hour gap and went bowling, except...they weren't supposed to leave the lot.

    10. Mindy Kaling approached John McEnroe about narrating before there was even a finished script.

    Netflix

    "I just said, 'This is the vision,' and [John and his wife, Patty Smyth] were into it. I think his kids watched The Office and knew me from that," Mindy explained.

    11. And his onscreen role came together super last minute.

    Lara Solanki / LARA SOLANKI/NETFLIX

    "He was actually in Malibu with his wife and we were like, 'Hey, do you want to come do this?' And he was like, 'Yeah, no problem.' He just showed up in a wet suit and it was awesome. We shot 15 minutes away from his house, so it was easy," Mindy said.

    12. Maitreyi didn't know who John McEnroe was when he was cast as the narrator.

    13. The writers didn't plan for Ben to become a love interest, but Jaren Lewison and Maitreyi had such great chemistry that they changed the script.

    Lara Solanki / LARA SOLANKI/NETFLIX

    "When we saw them sparring with each other, and it was almost flirtatious, we were like, 'OK, there are some sparks here even though they're being incredibly mean to one another,'" series co-creater Lang Fisher revealed.

    14. Maitreyi, Lee Rodriguez, and Ramona Young didn't have much time to learn the TikTok dance — they rehearsed with the choreographer in-between takes while filming the rest of the episode.

    15. In the dream scene, Paxton was originally supposed to take off his shirt from behind with one hand, but Darren kept choking himself, so he took it off from the side instead.

    Netflix

    And yes, he had to practice this move a lot.

    16. A poster for Popstar appears in Ben's bedroom in Episode 6, which Andy Samberg narrates.

    Netflix

    17. The outfits from Rebecca's photoshoot were made by Salvador Perez, who used leftover fabric from The Mindy Project, which he also worked on.

    18. John McEnroe hasn't watched a single episode of the series start to finish.

    Netflix

    "I never watch my matches or my commentary, or the movies or whatever I've been in. I can't watch," he said.

    19. Two of Mindy's former The Office co-stars appeared in the series, including Sendhil Ramamurthy — aka Devi's dad, Mohan — who played Kelly's fiancé...

    NBC

    20. ...as well as Angela Kinsey, who plays Ben's mom.

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    21. When filming on Season 1 wrapped, the cast dressed up as the Mystery Gang from Scooby-Doo and went to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios together.

    22. Finally, the series' name, which co-creator Lang Fisher came up with, is meant to reflect "a character whose ego is so caught up in the things she hasn’t done yet, hasn’t been exposed to yet."