’13 Reasons Why’ Alum Dylan Minnette Explains Why He Quit Acting

The former ’13 Reasons Why’ star explained that acting ‘started to feel like a bit of a job’ instead of a true passion.

Dylan Minnette revealed the reason why he stepped away from acting in a new interview. Over the past few years, the 27-year-old actor quickly became one of the biggest Gen-Z icons in Hollywood thanks to 13 Reasons Why, a starring role that he was “very fortunate” to have, Dylan insisted.

“I was on 13 Reasons Why, and it was really popular and definitely reached a peak in — so far — of what I’ve had in acting,” Dylan explained during a recent interview on the Zach Sang Show. “But it also started to feel like a bit of a job. And I was in a very fortunate position where — it was always fun for me, always really inspiring, but then as soon as it was just starting to feel like just a job, I was like, well, I feel like [my band] Wallows and music is this passion that we have always had as a group to really take all the way, and as far as we can.”

The hit Netflix series premiered in 2017 and went on for four seasons. Dylan played Clay Jensen in the show.

The Indiana native added that he now feels “like [he is] in a position now where [he] can just kind of do that for a while and get this the farthest it can be.” However, he doubled down in noting that he is “incredibly privileged and lucky to be in a position where it’s like, ‘This is starting to feel like a job, so [he’s] gonna do this now, and this’ll be [his] job.'”

The Scream actor was last seen on the big screen in the 2022 franchise horror movie and in Hulu’s The Dropout, which was also released that year. Since then, Dylan has focused on his music career. He even performed at Coachella in 2022 alongside his band. Two years later, Wallows released their latest album, Model, earlier this month.

During his latest interview, Dylan clarified that he hasn’t completely given up on acting yet.

“I do feel like I have something to give, and that’s probably acting,” he explained. “I feel like I’m starting to feel inspiration for that again. At some point, when we’ve fulfilled our Wallows duties and we’re all ready to take a break as a band, or just take a second, that’s when I’ll have the perfect inspiration to do something.”