unilad homepage
unilad homepage
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • World News
    • Crime
    • Health
    • Money
    • Sport
    • Travel
  • Music
  • Technology
  • Film and TV
    • News
    • DC Comics
    • Disney
    • Marvel
    • Netflix
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Archive
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
13 Reasons Why actor reveals why he quit acting after it started to feel like 'just a job'
Home>Film & TV>News
Published 15:05 27 May 2024 GMT+1

13 Reasons Why actor reveals why he quit acting after it started to feel like 'just a job'

13 Reasons Why star Dylan Minnette has revealed why he's taken a break from acting and what it would take for him to return

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover
Featured Image Credit: (Netflix/ Rich Polk/Getty Images for Universal Studios Hollywood)

Topics: 13 Reasons Why, Celebrity, Film and TV, US News, Netflix, Music

Poppy Bilderbeck
Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a freelance journalist with words in Daily Express, Cosmopolitan UK, LADbible, UNILAD and Tyla. She is a former Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible.

Advert

Advert

Advert

13 Reasons Why star Dylan Minnette has revealed why he's taken a break from acting.

Just a few years after landing his breakout role in the controversial Netflix series - which first aired in 2017 - Minnette decided to take a break from the world of film and TV and the 27-year-old has since spoken out about what it would take for him to return.

Minnette starred as Liberty High school student Clay Jensen in the American teen drama - who investigates why his classmate Hannah ended her own life.

Advert

The series shocked viewers globally with its graphic depictions of potentially triggering subjects such as rape and suicide.

It was forced to add in trigger warnings before every episode, Netflix even later coming under pressure to remove the show from its platform altogether.

The series acted as Minnette's break-out role, however, it's also one of his most recent, the actor having gone on to star in 2022's Scream and 2022 mini-series The Dropout, but then deciding to take a break from acting.

And in an interview with Zach Sang, Minnette revealed why he had a change of heart.

Minnette rose to fame in Netflix series '13 Reasons Why' (Netflix)
Minnette rose to fame in Netflix series '13 Reasons Why' (Netflix)

Minnette said he definitely 'think[s] about' his acting career 'for sure' but it's not a completely straight forward answer when it comes to when he'd return.

In a clip of the interview posted to YouTube, he explains: "I think [I've] done it for so long, like a really long time and I was very fortunate to find success in it.

"I was on 13 Reasons Why and it was really popular and definitely reached a peak in like, so far, in what I'd had in acting.

"But it also started to feel like a bit of a job."

While Minnette says he's 'always' found acting 'fun' and 'really inspiring,' when it began to feel like 'just a job' he couldn't help but lean towards another passion instead.

Minnette's last official acting credit on IMDb is in 2022 mini-series The Dropout (Hulu)
Minnette's last official acting credit on IMDb is in 2022 mini-series The Dropout (Hulu)

"Wallows [a rock band Minnette is a part of] and music is like this passion that we've always had as a group to really take all the way, as far as we can," he says.

"And I was like, 'I think I'm in a position now where I can just kind of like do that for a while and get this the farthest it can be and the only way that's going to happen is if I put my 100 percent time and energy into it and take it very seriously and show the world [...] we're a real band'."

Minnette adds he's 'incredibly privileged and lucky' he found himself in a position to be able to take a break and focus on his music career instead, noting he's 'following what feels inspiring'.

But this doesn't mean he's ruling out returning to his acting career in the future, noting he did want to do an acting job last year, but it ended up being when the SAG-AFTRA strikes occurred.

Minnette jokes he's told his manager it'll happen in '2026' and says he'll 'think about it as a concept one day' but has to 'do this first'.

He resolves: "I'm starting to feel like I have something to give artistically and creatively in other fields than just music now, I do feel like I have something to give and that's probably acting.

"At some point when we've fulfilled out Wallows duties and we're ready to take a break as a band or just take a second, that's when I feel like I'll have the perfect inspiration to do something."

Choose your content:

16 hours ago
19 hours ago
a day ago
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube
    16 hours ago

    South Park creator explains how they get away with Trump jokes as they reveal creation of his 'micropenis'

    The creators of South Park have made the president and other members of his administration the butt of many jokes on the show

    Film & TV
  • Monica Schipper/Getty Images
    19 hours ago

    Adult platform expert hits out at Euphoria as explicit Sydney Sweeney snake scene sparks backlash

    The expert has slammed Hollywood for not doing 'meaningful research into the realities of the industry'

    Film & TV
  • HBO
    a day ago

    Harry Potter TV Series set to recast Ginny Weasley as star bows out ahead of Season 2

    The family cited ‘unforeseen circumstances’ for the unexpected exit

    Film & TV
  • FOX
    a day ago

    Gordon Ramsay almost pukes on MasterChef after disgusting item is found in contestant's dish

    Ramsay happily tucked into the contestant's food on the new series of MasterChef: Global Gauntlet, before the horrific discovery

    Film & TV
  • Jessica Alba details 'humiliating' naked scene for character that almost made her 'quit' acting
  • Ben Affleck explains why he doesn't want his three children to enter the acting world
  • Netflix fans have just hours left to watch one of the best ‘feel good movies’ that’s been viewed for over 10 million hours
  • Josh Brolin explains why 'intense experience' of filming Knives Out sequel was ‘like an orgy’