Photo: getty (2)
Reese Witherspoonput in a good word for her sonDeacon Phillippebefore he joined the cast ofNever Have I Ever.
The show’s executive producer and co-creatorMindy Kalingopened up about casting Deacon, 18, in hisdebut acting roleafter having a conversation with the Oscar winner about her son’s ambitions.
For more on Mindy Kaling, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.
“He came to set, he really wanted to learn from our cast and I just love that energy,” she continued. “He’s just such a great kid and… incredibly grateful and a really nice energy to be around.”
Lara Solanki/Netflix
In the Netflix comedy’sthird season, Deacon will play a new character named Parker, who’s a rival debate team member from a private school. And it’s a very real possibility that party boy Parker may create yet another romantic dilemma for the show’s heroine Devi Vishwakumar’s (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), who has often found herself making relatably bad choices when it comes to her love life.
Ramakrishnan, 20, toldETshe enjoyed spending time with Deacon while filming.
“He was really cool to hang out with on set, and really kind and chill,” she shared. “Totally blended in with the rest of the cast, which was awesome.”
She didn’t, however, spill any details on where season 3 will take Devi in her love life now that she’s officially coupled up with Paxton Hall-Yoshida (Darren Barnet) after being in a love triangle with him and fellow high school over-achiever Ben (Jaren Lewison).
Mike Coppola/Getty
Earlier this month, the Deacon’s fatherRyan PhillippetoldEntertainment Tonightthat he was “so proud” of his son’sacting debut.
“He’s about to go to college for music. That’s his primary focus,” he revealed. “The acting thing he likes to do, and he will do according to what his appetite for it is, but his focus is primarily music.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free weekly newsletterto get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.
Season 3 ofNever Have I Everdrops Friday on Netflix.
source: people.com
