Darren Charles Barnet was born on April 27, 1991 in Los Angeles. He is of Japanese descent on his mother’s side. Barnet’s grandfather was swing musician Charlie Barnet. Barnet has an older and younger sister.

Barnet and his mother relocated to the suburbs of Orlando, Florida at the age of 12. He graduated from Dr. Phillips High School in 2009, where he was the lacrosse team captain. He graduated from Berry College with a Bachelor of Arts in 2013, where he acted in plays and short films. He wanted to be an actor since the age of 5, but he was shy as a kid and he left it. In college, he began acting again. He speaks Japanese and conversational Spanish, and he studied French.

After graduating in 2013, Barnet returned to Los Angeles to become an actor. He worked at SoulCycle on Sunset Boulevard as a bike attendant and front desk associate. He also got his California real estate license in May 2015. In the meantime, he got several acting gigs. In 2019, Barnet was cast in the Netflix series Never Have I Ever. He portrayed Paxton Hall-Yoshida, the love interest of Devi, the show’s lead. The first time he met Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (Devi) was at the table read.