Brandon Flynn, who played Justin in the Netflix drama series "13 Reasons Why," revealed that he was a bully, much like his character in the show.
The 24-year-old confessed that he was, for a time, like Justin, one of the bullies in "13 Reasons Why," and added that most people do not recognize that they were being bullies whenever they ignored a situation where someone was being bullied. In a powerful public service announcement (PSA) video by ATTN, Flynn slammed people who stood idly watching people getting bullied.
Flynn revealed as well that there were only eight percent of bullies while 80 percent were bystanders. "Just because you're not the one getting bullied, it doesn't mean it's not your problem, too," said the actor, who was reportedly dating "Stay With Me" singer Sam Smith.
Flynn was the perfect actor for spreading awareness of and putting a stop to bullying. He explained how his character in "13 Reasons Why" had done nothing despite witnessing bullying right in front of him. He then went on to say that there was 57 percent chance that bullying would halt within 10 seconds after an intervention.
The actor also encouraged people to address the growing issue by taking an action whenever the chance called. Flynn clarified that the move would not necessarily mean an uber-heroic act, but a simple gesture of saying "Stop" or "Don't talk to people like that" would go a long way and would create a ripple effect.
"13 Reasons Why" season 1 focused on Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford) who committed suicide and had left 13 tapes for the people who had contributed to her decision to take her own life. The people who were on the tapes had bullied her in some way or did not do anything to stop what was happening to her.
