Drama shows and series are, unexpectedly, always a boom among youngsters and adults regardless of people trying to find less dramatic things to watch. Instead, focus on happy and action series and genres overall.
Do you know the reason why? Because drama shows and series tend to have a better narrative, they keep you on edge. They are just part of a forever genre in the industry that will remain, especially when many of the shows are done to address real-life and relatable circumstances and emotions.
13 Reasons Why is probably the epitome of what many teenagers and people are feeling nowadays and why many choose to commit suicide.
This TV show takes you on a long journey that, as heads up, is worth your time as long as you find it interesting during the first two episodes. If not, you might want to skip it for a bit until you are up for the adventure and tragedy next time.
But how can you decide to watch the series if you don’t know much about it in the first place? We are here to fix that and add some curiosities you will be interested in or already are once reading them and as a possible fan visiting us to get some extra info from the show.
A Must Watch? Only If You Like Drama
Knowing if a series or show is something you would watch usually takes more than just reading a plot or watching a few shorts. However, those are very good places to start if you are insecure about it.
This is why we will keep it simple and ask: do you even know what it is about? If not, this is the overview we can give you (and we made sure not to add spoilers).
First of all, you might want to read the book if you are a lover instead of watching the show considering that some aspects and situations change in the shows (as always).
The story is based on Jay Asher’s best-selling book with the same name, and it follows Clay Jensen, who returns from school to discover a mysterious box on his porch with his name written on it.
He finds cassette tapes that Hannah Baker, his classmate, and crush had recorded.
The interesting part is that Hannah committed suicide just two weeks before this discovery.
Hannah explains on the tapes that she had thirteen reasons for ending her life and makes sure to leave each cassette with one of the reasons.
Here’s when the question pops up: Will Clay be one of them?
The only way for him to find out and understand how he got on the list is if he is open to listening to each of the cassettes left behind.
The series follows a narrator’s perspective, and with four seasons in total and its ending, you will be welcomed by several narrators depending on which one you are.
Of course, although the storyline follows Hannah, you will notice soon enough that more elements are involved after addressing topics like bullying, suicide, and many others that affect society, especially teenagers.
The story is full of drama, as you can expect by reading the plot. However, even when you might not be too keen on the idea of investing your time in it, it is worth watching at least the first two episodes to decide if it is a hard pass for you or not.
And for those interested in the genre, you might have found the next gem that you left aside for too long.
Production & Cast: Making 13 Reasons Why Possible
If you didn’t know, the series was quite popular by the time it came out in 2017, and when it finished in 2020, many were left empty with the departure of what many would call a masterpiece due to the topics it addresses.
Now, with the plot and idea of the series in mind (which clearly follows the book with some differences), you might be wondering how it turned into a show.
Since the novel was popular already, you can expect it to be turned into a show for those enthusiastic.
But in the case of 13 Reasons Why, some processes took time to bring it to the small screen.
Starting with the production company, July Moon Productions, Kicked to the Curb Productions, That Kid Ed Productions, Anonymous Content, and Paramount Television were involved.
Meanwhile, Netflix, Media Networks, and ViacomCBS Domestic took the role of distributing all four seasons of the series.
Moving on with the people involved in specific, you will have executive producers: Selena Gomez, Marvin Matyka, Diana Son, Tom McCarthy, Joy Gorman Wettels, Steve Golin, Michael Sugar, Mandy Teefy, and Kristel Laiblin.
On the other hand, Joseph Incapreara took the producer role, and Andrij Parekh handled the cinematography with Leo Trombetta as the editor.
But what about the cast? With the production and team behind cameras having incredible stars and famous celebrities, you would expect the same for the actors and actresses.
In short, this is true, but many of them were actually making their debut or gained popularity thanks to the show.
That being said, many were involved, so we will be focusing on the main cast who played main roles in most seasons:
- Dylan Minnette as Clay Jensen.
- Katherine Langford as Hannah Baker.
- Christian Navarro as Tony Padilla.
- Alisha Boe as Jessica Davis.
- Brandon Flynn as Justin Foley.
- Justin Prentice as Bryce Walker.
Making Money: 13 Reasons Why Reception & Salaries
More than the money, 13 Reasons Why is known for all the controversy it arose due to the rape, suicide, racism, and other topics it approaches.
In fact, there aren’t trustworthy sources of how much Netflix made with the series, but considering it was the second most-watched after its release in 2017, we can say the numbers weren’t low.
Of course, considering that it was rated 8 out of 10 on average during its first season, many suggest that it brought quite the revenue for the company and other people involved.
Now, it is a bit easier to give you the numbers for the actors and actresses involved.
During the first two seasons, all of them didn’t really have a large salary.
The main cast members like Katherine Langford and Dylan Minnette were making about $50k to $80k per episode. Some went as “low” as $20k per episode during the first season.
However, after the third season was announced, people learned their payments went quite high in comparison.
With members like Katherine leaving after the second season, we only have those like Dylan Minnette, Brandon Flynn, Alisha Boe, and Justin Prentice.
Dylan reportedly made $200.000 per episode for the fourth and last season of the show, while the next two (Brandon and Alisha) were paid $150.000 and Justin $135.000 per episode as well.
Most of the main cast members hit the $150k mark as Alisha and Brandon, and others were paid just a bit less.
When you compare the amount with other series like The Walking Dead or GOT, you would consider this very low. However, it is quite the amount for a short series that went down in popularity after the critics from season 2 till its final one.
5 Shocking Facts About 13 Reasons Why
- When Universal Pictures started the development in 2011, Selena Gomez was set to play Hannah Baker, but she was moved to the executive producer role when Netflix took the project.
- Initially, Katherine Langford auditioned to play Jessica Davis but was given Hannah Baker’s role after a second audition.
- Also, Langford auditioned via Skype (we are feeling old by just mentioned the platform).
- Hannah’s death in the book is different from the one in the series.
- Spoiler from the book: Hannah was going to survive in the story.
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