Darren Barnet on going from Netflix to Immortals of Aveum: "It's wild"

radiotimes.com:

Darren Barnet, who you may know as Paxton Hall-Yoshida from Netflix's Never Have I Ever, is moving into the gaming realm with EA's new fantasy action game Immortals of Aveum.

But why does he think we're starting to see so much crossover in talent between movies, television and gaming? Is performing in a game becoming more of a respectable occupation?

Barnet spoke to RadioTimes.com over Zoom, shortly before taking to the Summer Game Fest stage, saying: «Yeah. I mean, I'll call it what it is, too — actors really like to work.

»We're living in that world now, where it's not just you have to be a movie star or on a show like Friends. There's a lot of mediums and a lot of platforms. So I think, yeah, like if it's a good story, and it's cool, like… an actor loves a job, you know?

«And that's partially the reason. But in terms of, like, crossovers, between like video games to film, I've seen that a lot. And if they're executed right, they can be great.

»I think that's just because the writing of these games has become very good. Very, very good. It's also very immersive. You know, it's like, when you playing a game, you're playing it and controlling it, but you're also watching it. It's like you're part of a film that you're kind of creating as you go, which is a lot of fun."

You might assume that Barnet got this gig after his sizeable role in Never Have I Ever, but you'd be wrong! He told us: «When it came across the desk, I was still a bit, you know, lacking knowledge in terms of what that meant for an actor and how it was done.

This is before I was really doing anything. I wasn't doing Never Have I Ever. I was still just doing little co-star roles here and there.»

Barnet continued: «Next thing I knew, I was offered the role.