Warning: This post contains spoilers from the final season of13 Reasons Why.
But, over the seasons, Justin would become much more than that.
And that’s why his death had such an impact on the series.
Credit: DAVID MOIR/NETFLIX
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: At what point did you find out that Justin would be the one to die?
BRANDON FLYNN:It definitely wasn’t at the beginning [of the season].
We read that first script and we saw that there was the funeral.
I was like, “Oh, yes we can.”
[Laughs] Then it was in the middle of shooting that Brian and I went to dinner.
That was such a bonus for me because sometimes it’s difficult not to play the ending.
And I didn’t know the ending so I had nothing to play!
With Justin ultimately dying from AIDS, what went into your research process for those scenes?
Essentially you’re getting bombarded with all this information of how dangerous this virus is.
This whole season, Justin was trying to be so strong for people.
What made you feel like that was the right choice?
This season highlighted Dylan in such a way that we were finally understanding Clay’s psyche.
We were finally getting a deeper look into Clay, and the storyline is about healing.
My understanding of healing is that what happens prior to beginning to heal is [hitting] rock bottom.
Justin’s not an enemy anymore.
He’s Clay’s equal in many ways.
Justin was also sometimes a mirror for ClayClay got to see what hardship is, what recovery is.
One way to see Justin’s impact is to take a look at the audience’s reaction.
It does have much more of this strong, visceral impact when it is this character.
I’ve had circumstances in my life where I’ve lost someone and it’s inspired anger at first.
Walking away from this show, what did Justin teach you?
I was able to process it through Justin.
