13 Reasons Why Trivia: 25 interesting facts about the series!

13 Reasons Why is an American television series based on the 2007 novel by Jay Asher and adapted by Brian Yorkey for Netflix. Let’s see some amazing facts and trivia about it!

1. Universal Studios purchased film rights to the novel on February 8, 2011, with Selena Gomez cast to play the lead role of Hannah Baker.

2. On October 29, 2015, it was announced that Netflix would be making a television adaptation of the book with Gomez instead serving as an executive producer.
3. Tom McCarthy was hired to direct the first two episodes.

4. The series is produced by Anonymous Content and Paramount Television with Gomez, McCarthy, Joy Gorman, Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Mandy Teefey, and Kristel Laiblin serving as executive producers.

5. Filming for the show took place in the Northern Californian towns of Vallejo, Benicia, San Rafael, Crockett and Sebastopol during the summer of 2016.[

6. All 13 episodes and the special were released on Netflix on March 31, 2017.

7. Therapy dogs were present on set for the actors because of the intense and emotional content of the series

8. The show has received positive reviews from critics, with much of the praise for the show has been directed at the cast’s performances, direction, story, visuals, improvements upon its source material, and mature approach to dark and adult subject matter.

9. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 91% based on 32 reviews, with an average score of 7.33/10.
10. The site’s critical consensus reads, “13 Reasons Why complements its bestselling source material with a gripping look at adolescent grief whose narrative maturity belies its YA milieu.”

11. On Metacritic, the series has a score of 76 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating “generally favorable reviews”

12. Jay Asher was inspired to write the book when a family member tried to commit suicide. Some of the events that happen to Hannah are events that happened to teen girls in real life. He interviewed his wife and female colleagues for things that were hard or things they have never gotten over.

13. Katherine Langford purchased a piano while staying in San Rafael, CA during filming. She would play it to help comfort herself between takes when feelings would become overly intense.

14. Katherine Langford auditioned for both the roles of Hannah and Jessica before she landed the lead role.

15. The song that Clay and Hannah dance to is “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron from his album Strange Trails.

16. Tony’s cross tattoo on his wrist contains a semi colon which is the symbol for depression and suicide awareness.

17. On the “Thirteen Reasons Why” book website, you can listen to the entire series of recorded tapes. They’re quite eerie, but they play out in an interesting (and spoiler-filled!) way.

18. Scenes that take place prior to Hannah’s suicide tend to have a warm color palette; those that occur after are cooler in tone.

19. While the series contains many character interactions in the present, the book does not. The book deals mostly in the past.

20. Jay Asher originally wanted to title the book “Baker’s Dozen: The Autobiography of Hannah Baker”. “A baker’s dozen” is one more than a normal dozen, also known as 13.

21. Author Jay Asher was fine with difference between the book and Netflix series stating “The message is what matters most.”

22. The sets for Monet’s Cafe, Baker’s Drugstore and The Crestmont were all built on location in empty stores in downtown Vallejo, California within a few blocks of each other.

23. Many of the cast members met with specialists and psychologists to learn and understand their characters situations.

24. Neither Katherine Langford or Dylan Minette had read the book Thirteen Reasons Why before being cast to star in the series. Langford read it in between being cast and filming, but Minette didn’t want to confuse the character in the book with the character in the show, so he didn’t read it.

25. In episode 8, “Tape 4, Side B”, near the end of the episode when Clay is looking for his old copy of the school zine Lost & Found, you can see a book on his shelf titled Broken Symmetry. Broken Symmetry is a physics term which describes a phenomenon in which small fluctions to a system ultimately decide its fate. This also describes Hannah’s story and how everyone’s actions, or inactions, lead to her decision to commit suicide.