Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with 13 Reasons Why’s Devin Druid About Season 4

Actor Devin Druid has always dreamed of being part of a project that would leave a lasting positive impact on the world. In 2017 he did just that as he embarked on a four-season arc playing Tyler Down in Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why.

For three years, he captivated audiences with Emmy-worthy performances as he’s brought Tyler’s story to life which is normalizing conversations around mental health, highlighting the importance of second chances, and demonstrating that things can get better. As the series comes to a close and Devin begins the next chapter in his career, the impact that the show has had will live on long past the closing credits.

Pop Culturalist caught up with Devin for one final conversation about 13 Reasons Why and what’s next for the exciting young actor.

PC: A few weeks back, Netflix dropped that really emotional video of the cast saying their final goodbyes. Can you take us back to your final scene and what you were feeling in that moment as you close this chapter in your life?
Devin: My final scene was the sequence of us waiting in the hospital waiting room for Justin over a couple of hours, a couple of days. Slowly, you see the hospital room is filling up with more and more students. That was the last sequence I filmed for the show. It was already a heavy and sad moment which compounded the eventual wrapping of so many characters even more so because it was just an emotional and long day. Knowing that it was the end, it was the nail in the coffin for that emotion. It was tough. It was sweet.

I know that Netflix had a B Camera team during a couple of days of filming during the final season. Everyone gave a little wrap speech thanking people. They filmed all of those too. I was trying my best to contain myself and not become overwhelmed with emotion or overflow myself. But, yeah, I think my voice started to break. I couldn’t keep it [together]. It was heavy. It was a lot.

I keep going back to the word “bittersweet.” You reflect back on the four years that we’ve had together as a family, as a unit, and as a team crafting and telling these stories and character arcs and what they mean to us as well as an audience out there. You feel a sense of pride that you completed it. We’re so grateful that we weren’t a show that got hit by an axe early on and that we got to write a conclusion for these characters and see it through to the end. So yeah, really grateful. [It’s] really heartwarming and emotional.

PC: There’s something that I love about Tyler’s senior quote: “Sometimes life gives you a second chance.” It’s something that we get to see him really embrace in Season 4, and it’s incredibly important for the viewers to see. You’ve talked at length about that. How much collaboration did you have influencing that storyline?
Devin: Brian [Yorkey], our showrunner, and the writers’ room take from how we as actors have helped craft the characters and brought them to life. We started Season 1 with the only source material being one three- to four-hundred–page book. Now we get to take that time and stretch it out by forty-nine episodes, forty-nine hours. So a lot of it is, of course, the genius behind the writers but also in the way that we perform and the nuances and subtleties within that, that help show maybe this character is a little bit more timid than we initially thought because it’s just the way that the performance has come out. It shed a really great light on that.

A great example of that is Ross [Butler] as Zach. The way people might have read that character in the book is probably very different from how he played it. Now, though, that’s Zach. He’s thoughtful, he’s kind, he’s charming, but he’s also kind of one of the boys and has his own demons that he’s trying to overcome. That’s a good example for how we all have a hand in helping to shape these characters. It was really amazing getting to work, especially in Episode 6, with Brenda Strong, who directed those episodes, who of course plays Mrs. Walker.

She was incredible because I remember she brought the different actors in for one-on-one meetings. I remember she had a list of questions for me about my character that I hadn’t really thought about. She was like, “What does Tyler find funny? What does Tyler do for fun? Where does Tyler hold his pain?” I was like, “Oh my gosh. These are incredible questions.” I started to think about how Tyler’s not the best at social cues and socialization. So he might find irony really funny because it’s contrasting to logic, which for Tyler, he’s a very logical-based person. So it kind of makes sense—different things like that. It was a great opportunity to go back and remember where we started from. Starting and digesting these characters and building them up. It’s definitely been a collaborative process since beginning, and I’m grateful for everyone that’s been a part of this concoction.

PC: You’ve also mentioned in the past that one of the biggest takeaways from this experience is the importance of looking out for others. One of Tyler’s last few lines is “If anybody needs help, reach out. Send a group text.” Did that feel like a full-circle moment for you? How did you feel about wrapping up his storyline and how it happened?
Devin: Absolutely. Yeah, definitely. It felt like a natural bookend, standing over the buried tapes and having that cathartic ending and being there with this group of friends who have looked out and taken care of each other.

I’ve been saying a lot recently that I appreciate how we see his senior quote is “Sometimes life gives you a second chance.” It’s important to take that chance when you have that opportunity to be responsible and take the decision to hold that second chance in and take it full force. Tyler has always been someone who, as many mistakes as he’s made, he’s always proven to me how he tries to rectify those mistakes. He’s kind of always the first one to take responsibility for his actions and try to fix them, even if they are horrendous things. With what he did to Hannah, he tried to rectify that in Season 2 by being open and honest in his deposition to help the Bakers.

He started going off the deep end in Season 2 getting into all kinds of mischief, and so he goes to this behavioral camp. It’s off-screen, but when we see him come back to the school, he’s using those techniques that he’s learned because he’s trying. In Season 4, the police find the guns and he takes the opportunity to try and fix his mistake in the way that he can by working with the police. That quote at the end is him trying to rectify his mistakes as well. He’s grateful for this group of friends, and he wants to be there the way that they were there for him because he now knows how important that is. I love it.

PC: You and Tyler have been in some of the most memorable scenes throughout this whole series. When you look back at the last four years, do you have one that sticks out to you?
Devin: In Season 1, there’s a scene with Alex and Clay. Tyler comes down and he’s like, “What are you guys talking about?” He’s like, “We’re talking about joining the Illuminati or something.” Tyler’s like, “Don’t joke about the Illuminati, Alex.” [laughs] It was just the funniest thing at the time—especially with it being Season 1 and us all getting to know each other. It was just so fun. That was definitely memorable for me.

Season 2 with Cyrus destroying the baseball diamond. That was one of the coolest things. Just because getting to work with Bryce Cass, who is such a cool person and his phenomenal portrayal of Cyrus and the way he brings his whole attitude when he walks onto set in those Doc Martens and that eyeliner. Oh man, he’s fantastic. Doing that all night and getting those cool photos together with all the fire. It was awesome.

Obviously, there’s darker scenes that, of course, are memorable for just how traumatic that was for the character. Also, the good that it’s brought for an audience. I’ve had so many people that I’ve been able to talk to that have been touched by it and seeing their stories portrayed like that. Also from that, the opportunity to work with 1in6, the nonprofit organization for men who have been sexually assaulted and abused. A lot of us know that TV, film, and media is an art form that speaks to people because of its ability to tell stories and make people feel understood and that they’re not alone. We’ve had the ability to do that with a number of scenes throughout the four seasons that we’ve done together. I think you obviously can’t do everything right, but if it helps one person [it’s worth it]. I know from direct messages and conversations I’ve had with people that it has. It makes me feel very proud to have had that impact.

PC: This has been a breakout television role for you. What’s one thing that you know now that you wish you knew when you started this series?
Devin: Oh man. This is going to sound so dumb, but just the exhaustion of working from 5:30 a.m. for six months at a time. I live in LA now and we film up in the Bay Area. I’m six and a half hours away from home. I definitely wish that I had a better grasp on being responsible with my time and sleep at least because I’m kind of a workaholic. I take a lot of pride in the pride that I put in my roles and things like that.

During Season 2, especially, I wasn’t sleeping very well. I was up all night; due to the material of Season 2, I was watching and doing a lot of research on a lot of dark subject matter and material. I think it got to me a little bit over those six months. When we finally wrapped that season I was pretty pooped, and I needed a break. I was lucky enough to find solace in not only the work that we were doing and the people around me, but also [in] other forms of media, some amazing music, and people that have inspired me to dig my way out of the trenches.

PC: The last time we spoke, you didn’t know how Tyler’s storyline was going to end. Knowing what you know now, what parting words would you share with him?
Devin: I had no idea. I wasn’t lying to you. I swear. Brian doesn’t tell us anything. Oh man. Like if he was a person, a friend, and Devin was talking to Tyler?

PC: Yeah

Devin: That’s so strange because I always think of us as—

PC: One?

Devin: Kind of. I mean, I’m obviously a different person. But it’s weird thinking about talking to him, because in my mind, they are two different people in my mind. I’m never like, “That’s me in the show.” I’ll be like, “That’s Tyler.” But it is—I don’t know—there’s another part to it that’s kind of weirdly disassociative. But I don’t know. I think what I would want fans to take away from it and what I want Tyler to take away from his story is just seeing that it’s possible to dig your way out and to find a better path moving forward and to heal.

A lot of that comes from the ability to communicate openly and mental health professionals and taking it seriously and taking care of yourself. I think we did a really great job. One of the things that I always loved so much about Tyler’s story was not only being surrounded by an amazing group of friends but also how these friends also make sure that he’s talking to Dr. Singh and going to behavioral camp. These are things that are more off screen, but they did happen. We can infer that Tyler’s been doing a lot of work with them. We also know that in Season 4 with Dr. Ellman, who Clay sees. I think it was mentioned in a previous season that Alex has also gone to Dr. Ellman. Alex does some incredible physical therapy throughout the seasons.

As much as it is a character-based drama where a lot of the screen time is focused on characters interacting and building each other up and moving storylines forward, there’s conversations about mental health professionals and how they’re effective and it works for people. It’s important to pursue that and that’s okay to talk about it. We should normalize it more as a society and it shouldn’t be as taboo. No one should feel like they’re broken or that they have a faulty wire or something because they need to go talk to a therapist about something. I would definitely want Tyler to look at his whole experience and know he’s found a strength in that and a comfort in that. Once you get past that, you’ve done it once before; you can do it again if you need to. I’m proud of him. I’m proud of Tyler.

PC: Outside 13 Reasons Why, you’ve got a ton of new projects. Are there any that you can talk about at this time?
Devin: Yeah! I think Greyhound is going to Apple TV. Greyhound is a film that I did right after Season 2. It’s Tom Hanks in a World War II naval film where I play a guy named Wallace who works on the ship. It was really humid filming in Baton Rouge, Louisiana wearing a bunch of heavy wool naval peacoats and stuff like that, but it was a lot of fun. It was my second time getting to work with Tom Hanks’ production company and his producers on there—Steve Shareshian, Gary Goetzman, and all those incredible people. It was a pleasure to get to work with them again. It’s cool that this movie is finally going to come out. I think it’s been delayed like seven times. It’s cool. It was a fun couple of weeks that I spent there working on it—some amazing performances and crazy sequences. So that’s exciting.

I did an indie horror film called The Pale Door which is coming to Shudder—a horror streaming service—which is really cool. I’ve been so excited because I think that—at least recently in the past five years—we’re having another golden age of horror/thriller movies. People are starting to think of them less as just a genre-based movie but also just another medium to tell cool stories and to do interesting things on film. Horror is such an interesting space to do those things because it’s so unpredictable and you can do so many weird things. Then of course, a lot of horror thriller things, going back to the nineties, eighties, seventies kind of era. We take it all the way back to the 1600s with cowboys in the Wild West. A band of cowboys encounter a coven of witches, and I’m going to leave it at that.

PC: As you look ahead to the rest of your career, what do you hope to accomplish both personally and professionally?
Devin: My biggest goal for a long time was to find a project that not only had talent on a creative side that was compelling to work with but also something that could have a positive impact on people who watched. I think we all have a lust to do something that’s bigger than ourselves and to do something that can leave a message behind when we’re all gone. I was lucky enough to already have found that in this show. We’ve got incredible talent all around the board: Netflix; Paramount; Anonymous Content; Brian Yorkey, our incredible showrunner, Tony Award-winning writer. Our incredible producers in Kristel Laiblin, Joy Gorman Wettels, Mandy Teefey, Selena, everybody who is involved on that end. Then all the incredible directors and writers that we’ve had along the way.

Of course, my beautiful, beautiful cast. I love them with my whole heart. I feel like I’ve already accomplished that. But if I can do that again, I would be even more satisfied. That would be phenomenal. I just want to keep telling stories. I want to make things that mean something to people, which, I think, wow, I think that’s one of Tyler’s last lines too. He says that in the gym. He says, “I just want to take pictures that mean something to someone or that actually matter.” I’m like, “Wow. Maybe we are more alike than I thought.” And I want to be in a Marvel movie. I think we’ve talked about this before. I want it. I want it. I just want to be a superhero.

I love that world so much. Growing up, I went and saw Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man in 2002 in costume when I was four years old. It opened up four-year-old me to what movies could be and what film could translate to and what could be possible to see. It would be awesome to do that. I want to do more movies. I love TV. It’s been an awesome time and an awesome experience, but I want to film some more movies in between there if I do some more TV.

One Word Association

PC: Dylan?
Devin: Mature.

PC: Christian?
Devin: Fierce.

PC: Alisha?
Devin: Goddess.

PC: Brandon?
Devin: Lovable.

PC: Justin?
Devin: Dorky.

PC: Miles?
Devin: Adorable.

PC: Ross?
Devin: Big brother.

PC: Timothy?
Devin: Dad.

PC: Tyler [Barnhardt]?
Devin: Geek.

PC: Grace?
Devin: Another goddess. She’s incredible. She’s so eloquent. Grace is incredible. I love her.

PC: Katherine?
Devin: She started it all. Oh man. Queen.

To keep up with Devin, follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and Twitch. Binge-watch all four season of 13 Reasons Why on Netflix today.

Photo Credit: David Moir/Netflix