#FlashbackFriday: Why Does ’13 Reasons Why’s Dylan Minnette Look So Familiar?

This #FlashbackFriday we picked 3 series you might recall seeing ’13 Reasons Why’ actor Dylan Minnette in!

If you haven’t already taken the time to binge-watch Netflix’s latest series 13 Reasons Why we strongly recommend you set aside sometime this weekend and get on that. Despite the fact that the show – based off author Jay Asher’s  the New York Times’ July 2011 bestseller of the same name – has received reviews that run the gamut from high praise to a more critical analysis of the series’ tough subject. While I tend to fall somewhere in-between feeling like 13 Reasons Why is the kind of show with aspects that should be mandatory viewing for high school students, I also have a rather harsh and more potentially tonally challenged take on Hannah’s (Katherine Langford) choice. And it’s an opinion I’m still working through and expanding on, which is why I’m not here to offer any kind of real review of the series as a whole.

For those not quite in the know 13 Reasons Why tackles the aftermath of Hannah Baker’s suicide, when she leaves behind a set of tapes explaining (i:e blaming) a series of classmates that lead her to make her fatal decision. The show doesn’t shy away from the more uncomfortable aspects of the story. Instead the narrative tackles topics like bullying, sexual harassment/assault, and suicide with all the candor, discomfort, pain and emotional upheaval that few series successfully ever manage. The series itself picks up when the main character Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette) receives Hannah’s tapes and follows him as he navigates his way through her story and self-proclaimed “reasons why” she died.

Although, it’s not a defining feature of the series there’s no doubt that at some point throughout the 16 hours of tapes you found yourself wondering why Minnette looked so darn familiar. A quick look through his IMDB filmography would answer this questions but for this #FlashbackFriday we picked 3 series you might recall seeing Dylan Minnette

1) Grey’s Anatomy

In the $ason 4, Episode 5, “Haunt You Every Day,”  Minnette guest starred as Ryan – a boy who comes into the clinic hoping plastic surgeon Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) can help build him some ears. Not necessarily as recognizable in 2007, the guest spot is more notable for the shared history with Kate Walsh, who plays Hannah’s mother in 13 Reasons Why but his easily best known for her turn as Dr. Addison Shepherd on the long-standing medical drama and subsequent spin-off.

2) Supernatural

Showing up again in the early years of a veteran TV series, Minnette played Danny Carter in Season 4, Episode 11, “Family Remains.” Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) must protect the Carter family from a mysterious creature that appears to be haunting the home they just moved into.

3) Scandal

A real ABC/Disney alum, several years after his one-off appearance in Grey’s Anatomy, Minnette would turn up for a three episode run in another Shondaland show as the son of Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) and Mellie (Bellamy Young), Jerry Grant Jr. Spoilers for his role in the series abound as his death was a major catalyst for the family’s spiral out of control.

Bonus: This isn’t Minnette’s first time playing a character named Clay. The first time actually occurring during his time on Saving Grace.

13 Reasons Why is currently streaming on Netflix. And be sure to check out Hidden Remote’s weekly #FlashbackFriday features

Did you recognize Dylan Minnette from any of these shows or were you so engrossed in 13 Reasons Why you didn’t even notice? Share with us in the comments!

• Published on 04/14/2017 at 10:19 PM EDT
• Last updated on 05/20/2020 at 2:29 PM EDT