Jaren Lewison (born December 9, 2000) is an American actor who is best known for portraying Ben Gross in the television series ''

Never Have I Ever "Never have I ever", also known as "I've never..." or "ten fingers", is a drinking game in which players take turns asking other players about things they have not done. Other players who have done this thing respond by taking a drink. A vers ...

''.

Early life and education

Jaren Miles Lewison grew up in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, in a Jewish family. He has one sister named Mikayla. For 14 years he attended Levine Academy, a

Conservative Jewish Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and community through the generat ...

day school in Dallas where his mother taught kindergarten. He graduated in 2019 from Pearce High School in

Richardson, Texas Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 119,469. Richardson is an inner suburb of the city of Dallas. It is home to the University ...

. In high school, he was captain of the varsity football team and was a varsity

powerlifter Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

. He also did theater. As a senior, he portrayed

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

in his school's adaptation of the 1998 film ''

Shakespeare in Love ''Shakespeare in Love'' is a 1998 romantic period comedy-drama film directed by John Madden, written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard, and produced by Harvey Weinstein. It stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Colin ...

''. The production was chosen to perform at the 2019

International Thespian Festival The International Thespian Festival is an annual week-long theatre festival that brings together U.S. high school theatre clubs, thespian troupes, and programs. Organized by the International Thespian Society, it was held annually in late June on ...

. In 2019, Lewison began attending college at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

, where he graduated in 2022 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in psychology with minors in forensics and criminology. He filmed ''

'' while being a full-time student at USC.

Acting career

Lewison began acting at five years old, when his after-care had a theater group who connected him with representation. After giving his name to a Dallas film and TV agent, he got his first role as Joshua on ''

Barney & Friends ''Barney & Friends'' is an American children's television series targeted at young children aged 2–7, created by Sheryl Leach. The series premiered on PBS on April 6, 1992. The series features the title character Barney, a purple anthropomo ...

,'' whom he played in various episodes and videos from 2008 to 2011. He has acted in various TV series and TV movies. He also played the younger version of the main character Hoagie, whom

Ed Helms Edward Parker Helms (born January 24, 1974) is an American actor and comedian. From 2002 to 2006, he was a correspondent on Comedy Central's ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. He played paper salesman Andy Bernard in the NBC sitcom '' The Offi ...

portrayed, in the 2018 comedy film '' Tag''. His largest role to date was on the main cast as Ben Gross in

Lang Fisher Lang Fisher (born January 29, 1980) is an American comedy writer and director. She co-created and executive produced the Netflix coming-of-age comedy-drama series, ''Never Have I Ever''. Career Fisher graduated from Fountain Valley School of ...

and

Mindy Kaling Vera Mindy Chokalingam (born June 24, 1979),Additional archive on June 25, 2015. known professionally as Mindy Kaling (), is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter and producer. She first gained recognition starring as Kelly Kapoor in the N ...

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

show, ''

''.

Filmography

Television

Film

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewison, Jaren People from Dallas Jewish American male actors University of Southern California alumni American male child actors American male film actors American male television actors Living people 2000 births 21st-century American Jews