Brandon Flynn has the complicated task of playing Justin in 13 Reasons Why. He plays one of the more multi-faceted characters in the series and sometimes you can’t decide whether to hate him, feel bad for him, or both.

Flynn actually auditioned for the role of Clay first, then Bryce, but neither of them felt just right. And even when he read for Justin, he still felt unsure. He told NKD magazine,

“It was like, the hardest audition ever because it was like three lines and I was like, ‘I don’t even know who this person is’.”

But once he got to know Justin, he felt more connected to him than ever.

“[He’s a] kid who’s not from the right part of town, but is popular at school despite his interesting home life. For some reason that really attracted me, because I remember being in high school and you wear all these masks. Justin wears masks constantly. It’s almost like a survival technique because you see what happens to him at home and you see… being a product of how you’re brought up and how that can make you interact with other human beings.”

Justin goes through a lot in the first season, which comes to a head when one of his best friends Bryce rapes his girlfriend Jessica, whom he deeply cares about.

It will certainly be interesting to see how Justin and Jessica deal with the rape in season two, know that the truth has been outed. The showrunner has already confirmed that they will continue to deal with the rape in the next season.

READ THIS NEXT

’13 Reasons Why’ Season 2: Jessica’s Rape Story is Far From Over