Ross Butler’s character, Zach Dempsey, has changed a lot throughout the three seasons of Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why.” But he says that will all change again in Season 4.
“He’s changed a lot since Sason 1,” Butler told TheWrap’s Beatrice Verhoeven. “In Season 1, you don’t really see him that much: he’s kind of under the radar, he’s not confident in what he believes in and he doesn’t know what he wants to believe in. Second season, he starts to understand what it means to stand up for what you believe in and to actually have opinions and say them and not hide them.”
In Season 3, Zach makes a decision that is “reflective of who he’s become and trying to find out what is just and what is right and how do you be a good person in a world where not everyone is on the same page.” But in Season 4, that will all change, he teases: “I can’t say how, but I will say Zach does take a big turn in a way that I don’t think people will guess.”
While audiences have to wait another year for Zach to reappear in “13 Reasons Why,” Butler can soon be seen in another Netflix project that is on the complete other spectrum than the drama. He will next star in “To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You,” the sequel to the hit Netflix film ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” starring Noah Centineo and Lana Condor. The sequel will be available on Feb. 12, 2020.
“Originally, the [novel’s] writer Jenny Han reached out and I was like, ‘Why not? It’s going to be fun and it’s comedy’ and it’s a little bit of a break from the heavy drama that is ’13 Reasons Why,’” he explained. “You get to see a little bit more of a playful side of me — I’m playing Noah’s best friend.”
One thing he hopes to see in the movie: a blooper reel of outtakes where the cast just riffs on each other. Specifically, there’s a scene involving Linkin Park that he hopes will see the light of day.
The 29-year-old actor also had a small role in this year’s “Shazam!” which he finally feels he can talk about.
“I went in to audition, and they were like, ‘That’s the guy!’” he recalled. “It’s fun being a 10-year-old in a 29-year-old’s body — it’s every fantasy you have as a kid manifested. When else can I be a superhero?”
Watch the video above.