Why This Is Us Fans Recognize Chicago Med's New Actor, Darren Barnet
If you know, you know. And This Is Us viewers definitely know.
One Chicago fans are still buzzing over the announcement that Darren Barnet will join the cast of Chicago Med beginning with Season 10.
And as it turns out, This Is Us fans are just as excited!
While the 33-year-old has been making waves in Hollywood with roles in movies like Anyone But You and Love Hard, hardcore This Is Us fans recognize him from one memorable episode of the beloved series.
Barnet played the younger version of Jack Pearson during the Season 1 episode, "The Right Thing to Do." In a pivotal scene kicking off the episode, viewers witness Jack as a child defending his mother against his abusive father — one of Jack's core memories that constantly drives him to be nothing like his father later in life. It's an essential establishing scene for one of the show's main characters, and Barnet played perfectly.
The This Is Us gig was one of Barnet's first roles in Hollywood, and to say he nailed it is an understatement. Now he's in the big leagues in Chicago Med as Dr. Frost, a new physician-slash-heartthrob at Gaffney Medical Center.
In an August 6 Instagram post celebrating the news, Barnet didn't mince words — he's ready to rock!
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"Back to work!" he captioned. "Beyond thrilled to join @nbcchicagomed as Dr. John Frost. Also very excited to wear scrubs to work everyday. They are quite comfy. Let's do this Chi-Town. Send recommendations. Please and thanks."
Season 10 is shaping up to be very, very intriguing.
Darren Barnet is eager to shake off his "high school hot boy" image
As one of the stars of Netflix's high school-focused Never Have I Ever, Barnet found himself an overnight sensation. In a 2022 interview with InStyle, Barnet went into detail about enjoying filming the Netflix series and not thinking about what's next on his schedule.
"What's easy, as an artist, is to just always be thinking about the next thing — what you're going to do next and what comes after — but I'm really trying to relish the moment," he said at the time. "Tomorrow will come, but right now, I'm on a hit show, we're doing the fourth season, and it's been life-changing. So, I'm really trying to sit there and just express gratitude and enjoy it, because I know I'm going to miss it a lot more than I expect."
Barnet didn't have to wait too long to discover "what comes after" his most successful venture yet, because Chicago Med came knocking. Although fans are already pegging Barnet as the next One Chicago fan-favorite hunk, the actor is focused on showing he is more than just a "high school hot boy."
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"I'm confident with things I have in the works that there's going to be a whole other side of me seen as an artist," he explained. "So, I'm OK with it right now, being sexualized, per se. It's fun. I mean, I knew what I was signing up for, but artistically, that's obviously not why I got into acting. So, I'm excited to show my range."
Barnet will get the opportunity to show that range when Season 10 of Chicago Med premieres on Wednesday, September 25 at 8/7c on NBC.
