The latest season of Mindy Kaling’s Never Have I Ever premieres today — Friday, Aug. 12 — on Netflix. And not only are there more juicy romances and comedic one-liners in the show’s highly-anticipated third season, but also a hot new character to swoon over: Des, played by actor Anirudh Pisharody.
On July 27, Pisharody shared his excitement about the role on his Instagram account alongside the trailer for the new season, saying, “🤓✏️ has entered the building. @neverhaveiever s3 drops AUGUST 12th only on @netflix🔥 P.S wait till the end 😏” (at the end of the trailer, Pisharody’s character Des enters the building and consequently takes the breath away from numerous characters).
Based on the trailer and buzz surrounding the newest season, Des is the latest heartthrob in the Never Have I Ever series, and might just be another love interest for Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) — AKA, Paxton and Ben better watch out.
Here is everything we know about Pisharody and his new role in Never Have I Ever.
This isn’t Pisharody’s first acting role.
The 28-year-old actor is no stranger to the screen and has been in several TV shows, including 9-1-1, Last Man Standing, and The Goldbergs.
Pisharody is also a producer and even co-founded a full service production company called Black Velvet Films with his wife, Jill V. Dae.
Pisharody pursued acting later in life, thinking it was an unattainable dream.
Pisharody went to school at the University of Texas at Austin and earned his degree in public health. However, once he got his first job out of college, he realized that he just wasn’t cut out for pre-med and began to seriously consider pursuing acting, which had been a dream of his for years.
Pisharody made the leap and moved to Los Angeles to pick up any roles he could before eventually becoming a full-time actor and producer.
As a South Asian actor, Pisharody says being in Never Have I Ever is an opportunity “few and far between.”
While Pisharody was worried that he was a bit too old to play Des — who is a 17-year-old high schooler — he was over the moon when he got the part. In an interview with PEOPLE, Pisharody explained that as a South Asian actor, landing his role in Never Have I Ever was an opportunity “few and far between.”
“Oftentimes when you’re an actor, especially a South Asian actor, most sets you’re on you never get to see that many people who look like you on both the cast and crew side,” Pisharody told PEOPLE. “So coming to work every day was just awesome.” The up-and-coming star continued, “I’m really happy that this [show] is for kids who are growing up now. It’ll give that next generation just a level of, ‘OK, I can do this if I want to.’”
Never Have I Ever season 3 is available to watch now on Netflix.