13 Reasons Why's Dylan Minnette Reveals What Made Him Quit Acting -- And What He's Doing Instead

The 13 Reasons Why star, who has been acting since he was just 8 years old, got candid about shifting his focus to his rock band, Wallows, in a new interview on the Zach Sang Show.

"I was fortunate to find success in [acting]," Minnette shared. "I was on 13 Reasons Why and it was really popular and definitely reached a peak in what I've had in acting. But it also started to feel like a bit of a job."

"And I was in a very fortunate position, it was always fun for me, always really inspiring," he continued, "but then it was just starting to feel like just a job."

Minnette said he and his band, which also includes Braeden Lemasters and Cole Preston, have always dreamed of taking music "all the way as far as we can," and feel now is the time to do just that.

"I feel like I'm in a position now where I can just kind of like do that for a while and get this the farthest it can be," he explained. "The only way that's gonna happen is if I put my 100 percent time and energy into it and take it very seriously and show the world that we all take this very seriously. This is a real band, we're going to do real band things."

His passion for music, Minnette says, is "what feels natural and inspiring" for him these days, and while he's taking a break from the big screen, he's not totally opposed to acting again someday.

"In my mind I was gonna do something last year," Minnette explained, sharing that his available months to act coincided with the SAG-AFTRA strike, which ran from mid-July to early November 2023. While that timing didn't exactly pan out, Minnette said he does feel like he still has "something to give," and has even told his manager and agents that 2026 might be a good time to return to the screen.

"And that's probably acting ... I feel like I'm starting to feel inspiration for that again," the Saving Grace star said. "At some point, when we've fulfilled our Wallows duties and we're all ready to take a break as a band, that's when I’ll have the perfect inspiration to do something."

Prior to earning a lead role on 13 Reasons Why, Minnette had made various appearances on TV since his debut on Drake & Josh in 2005.

He starred in Two and a Half Men, Lost, Grey's Anatomy and Prison Break (as the younger version of Wentworth Miller's character), and played First Son Jerry Grant Jr. in Scandal.

You can check out Dylan Minnette's full interview on the Zach Sang Show below.