Michael Cimino Says the Reason He's Not in the "Never Have I Ever" Cast Group Chat "Makes Sense"

Image Source: Getty / Michael Tran In our Q&A series POPSUGAR Crush, we get to know some of our favorite celebs' more intimate details - from their first celebrity crush to their best love advice. This month, we're crushing on "Never Have I Ever" actor Michael Cimino. Michael Cimino may have made a big impression on Maitreyi Ramakrishnan's Devi in "Never Have I Ever"'s fourth and final season, but he still hasn't found a way into the cast's "family group chat." Although he doesn't mind since he can at least say he's worked on a Mindy Kaling project, despite never actually meeting her. Believe it or not, Cimino wasn't an avid viewer of the Netflix teen dramedy until he boarded it early last year - albeit he's known Darren Barnet (who plays Paxton) "for a long-ass time." In "Never Have I Ever," the 23-year-old trades in the sweet teen persona he's known for in "Love, Victor" for another trope: hot bad boy Ethan, who, of course, captures Devi's attention (and more). And though Cimino agrees his character is "not at all" like his personality IRL, he welcomed the challenge to portray someone new. "It'll happen when it's supposed to happen, and that's just that." "In 'Love, Victor,' it's not that I'm exactly Victor, but [he] was so much closer to home for me and Ethan was so not that," Cimino explains to POPSUGAR. "So it was really fun to just do a completely different character." According to the actor, we have Kaling to thank for him being the new handsome face to join "Never Have I Ever." "I think Mindy saw really liked my [audition] tape, which was awesome... and crazy. I've never actually met Mindy in person yet but she was the reason why I got onto the show," Cimino shares. He came close to meeting her on set one day but arrived "right after she left," and missed her again after she skipped season four's premiere in solidarity with the Writers Guild of America strike. Still, Cimino's optimistic. "It'll happen when it's supposed to happen, and that's just that." Image Source: Netflix Cimino can't recall the exact description he received for his "Never Have I Ever" role. "It was something like broody skater kid or something like that," he says. But knows he brought his own interpretation with his hilarious audition. "My tape was honestly so funny because it was the scene where I'm washing the car. I'm like, 'You know what? I'm going to pull out all the props,' and I did. . . . Ethan takes off his shirt and starts wiping [the car] with his shirt. So I literally was like boom, I took my shirt off. It was so fun." Luckily for Cimino, Kaling liked his tape enough to give him a semi-pivotal role in her show's final season. "I think sometimes when you allow yourself to just take risks, people appreciate it," he adds. "Sometimes they don't but, you know, sometimes it makes your tapes stand out." "I can't really talk too much about it but I will say that this next job that I'm going to do combines so many of my different passions and I'm so freaking excited." Cimino admits being part of "Never Have I Ever" was a different experience than he was used to with his three-season Hulu series. "It was so much more fast-paced because it's very comedy, comedy, comedy, so it's super fast-paced. They're rolling, they're really quick moving, and they would shoot a lot of pages every day," he explains. "So that was honestly a different vibe for me, but I really enjoyed it." Though he felt like the new kid joining "Never Have I Ever," especially since much of the cast has been there from the beginning, Cimino says he didn't have a chance to be nervous around them. "It would've been intimidating if everyone wasn't so nice if that makes any sense," he shares. "I just felt super welcomed as soon as I came, and obviously that doesn't happen every time, but everyone was so cool. So it made it really easy to be like, 'All right, cool. I'm chilling!'" Of course, Cimino grew to be closest with Ramakrishnan since he filmed all of his scenes with her. "She's so dope, such a good human being," he praises of his scene partner. And though the two had a steamy romance onscreen, they bonded as friends in the most chill way possible: by playing Super Smash Bros. on set. "Literally, I would bring my [Nintendo] Switch on set and the PAs and COVID people would come bring the TV on wheels - which they weren't supposed to do but we'd do it anyways. We'd put the Switch on and we'd all just play Smash Bros. It was so fun! So fun." Cimino is looking toward the future following his "Never Have I Ever" appearance. Though he missed out on joining the cast's group chat - "I was only in four episodes so that makes sense" - he is excited about his next acting gig, though he can't reveal details just yet. "I can't really talk too much about it but I will say that this next job that I'm going to do combines so many of my passions and I'm so freaking excited," he beams. "It's definitely a dream job for me and I can't wait to share with the world because it's ge