Though she may not appear on screen, Selena Gomez [1] has been a driving force behind Netflix's adaptation of 13 Reasons Why [2]. The "Back to You" [3] singer is an executive producer on the hit show and has referred to the series as a "passion project" [4] ahead of its premiere in 2017. Last year Dylan Minnette, who stars as Clay Jensen on the show, recalled one of his fondest memories working with Gomez [5] in season one, telling us: "She stayed with us the whole day on set and talked to everyone. She took us out to dinner and saw a movie with us, and we hung out with her. I don't think I can emphasize how generous she is and how genuinely she cares."
Now that season two has finally premiered [7], we can confirm that Gomez stays behind the camera [8]. "A book is frightening for me because I know the cult following it has," she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017. "Which is the reason why I didn't want to be in it." In fact, it was her mother who brought the project to her back when it was still going to be adapted into a film. Despite not wanting to star, Gomez was so drawn to the material that she took on the project as an executive producer and helped get it made as a Netflix miniseries.
On top of supporting the cast and crew, Gomez contributed two songs to the soundtrack [9] for the first season: a cover of Yazoo's 1982 track "Only You" [10] and an acoustic version of "Kill Em With Kindness." She also penned a new song for season two's soundtrack [11], that comes into play during an important moment in the finale.