Dylan Minnette admits he loved filming Clay's beatdown in '13 Reasons Why'
It didn’t look like a good time.
Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette) gets repeatedly pummeled in the face — and kicked in the gut for good measure — in the process of coercing a rape confession out of bully Bryce Walker (Justin Prentice) in the penultimate episode of 13 Reasons Why, Netflix’s acclaimed series about teenager Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford), who leaves behind a series of tapes documenting what drove her to suicide.
Yet Minnette, one of the series’ breakout stars, loved filming the scene. “It was honestly one of my favorite nights of filming the entire season,” the 21-year-old actor told Yahoo Entertainment during a Facebook Live interview Tuesday (watch clip above). “It was just fun to be able to do that.”
Minnette, who next stars in Netflix’s psychological thriller film The Open House, gave props to Prentice (who, despite playing “a terrible person,” is in Minnette’s words, “literally the nicest guy ever”) and the woman behind the camera, Jessica Yu (“I loved the way it was shot, Jessica Yu just directed the hell out of that”).
“I knew that scene was coming from Day 1, and I was just so excited to get there, just to have Clay get beaten and bloody and [goes] riding away on his bike, screaming at the top of his lungs,” Minnette said. “It was one of my favorite things I’ve ever done, probably, to be honest with you.”
As for what’s to come in the series’ upcoming second season, Minnette said Clay will continue to come of age, though he’ll forever be affected by the first season’s events.
“There’s a time jump. Season 2 is a couple months after Season 1, and there’s a lot that’s happened to Clay in between,” he said. “You’re playing catch-up when you start, and you see where Clay’s at.
“Clay’s trying to live his life … but I think Hannah, his life with her, and everything with the tapes, is the biggest thing that’s ever happened to him, and I don’t think he’ll ever be able to escape it, no matter how hard he tries.”
And if it’s up to Minnette, that escape attempt might just involve another beatdown.
The Open House premieres Jan. 19 on Netflix.
Watch our full Facebook Live interview with Dylan Minnette:
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