‘13 Reasons Why’ Star Justin Prentice Expresses Support For Netflix Series’ ‘Brutal’ Suicide Storytelling

“13 Reasons Why” star Justin Prentice recently opened up about the hit Netflix series.

While speaking with People, the actor shared that he did some research before shooting his scenes as the villainous character, Bryce Walker. He also revealed that he had a psychiatrist and sexual assault specialist on his phone’s speed dial. In the series, which streamed on Netflix on March 31, Bryce was named as Hannah Baker’s (Katherine Langford) rapist.

Read: Selena Gomez teases empowering episodes in “13 Reasons Why”

Talking about the challenging scene, Prentice said that he learned a lot from playing the controversial role. “Like most people, I think it’s very normal when you hear about a case of rape or sexual assault to immediately be angry at a persona doing the rape, which of course I still am. And it’s an important thing. But I think it gave me a deeper insight into what’s wrong and why these things are happening – having to force myself to get into the minds of these people and how they’re capable of doing what they do,” he explained.

Following the release of “13 Reasons Why,” the series faced controversy regarding the glamorization of suicide. In the final installment, Hannah took her own life after being tortured by some of her classmates in several different ways. Prentice said that despite the harsh criticism, he stands by the creators’ decision to show Hannah’s suicide the way they did in episode 13.

“It’s dark and it’s brutal and that’s what suicide often is. And so the writers didn’t want to convey this as an easy thing. They don’t want to make suicide look easy. They felt that it they shied away from showing it, it’s not going to resonate with people, like actually watching her do the act in the bathtub. It’s very hard to watch, it is very difficult, but suicide is difficult,” he said.

“13 Reasons Why” has also been renewed by Netflix for Season 2. Co-showrunner Brian Yorkey opened up about the new storylines that will be explored in the upcoming episodes. Even though lead character Hannah has already died, Yorkey said that her spirit remains alive in Season 2. But the upcoming installments will focus more on how the other characters lived their life following her suicide.