How Selena Gomez Convinced ’13 Reasons Why’s’ Katherine Langford To Make Her Instagram Public


Selena Gomez may already have “It Girl” street cred, but Katherine Langford has just stepped into the limelight and recently got some advice from the popstar on her social media accounts.

Originally, the previously unknown Katherine Langford joined Instagram only to connect with family and friends. The actress, whose first big role is 13 Reasons Why, stated that she really just wanted to focus on the role at hand and not get sucked into the scary, and sometimes weird, world of social media.

But Selena Gomez, who is one of the most followed people on Instagram, and an executive producer of 13 Reasons Why, had different plans for Langford.

Langford opened up to The Last Magazine on her decision, thanks to Selena Gomez, to allow all of her fans to view her photos.

“It was a bit of a big decision for me actually, because I wanted to be an actor purely for the acting work. I have never been attracted to increasing my popularity or hireability by being on Instagram. Selena pointed out that the show is targeting young adults like me and that [social media] is a good medium to talk directly with those who relate to my character, Hannah,” she said.

Langford also added that, against Selena Gomez’s sage advice, she just wanted to “do her job and disappear,” which she may have trouble doing now that the show has achieved such a massive following and has become an instant hit.

Langford also stated that she told Selena Gomez that she was a little nervous about posting pictures that weren’t “cool enough” for her fans, but thus far, it doesn’t seem like she has had many complaints. At the time of publication of this article, Langford has nearly 2 million Instagram followers who all think her photos are pretty cool.

In addition to being an executive producer on the television series, Selena Gomez acted as somewhat of a mentor to the cast. Although she wasn’t always on set due to other commitments, Langford says that Selena and her mother, Mandy Teefey, emailed Langford and the other stars of the show all of the time to check in on them and ensure things were going well on set.

The cast eventually got to meet their behind-the-screen mentor Gomez when she made a few visits to the set. Langford described the social media queen and popstar as a down-to-earth person, which she said was surprising despite her level of fame.

Selena Gomez originally bought the rights to 13 Reasons Why from the author of the book, Jay Asher, several years ago. In 2011, it was optioned for a film by Universal and Selena Gomez was cast in the lead role of Hannah Baker. Although the passion project was meant to be a transition piece for Selena, from Disney to more serious films, she decided to hang back and pass the baton to another actress.

Gomez dished on Instagram that she felt like she had found the perfect Hannah in Katherine Langford and was incredibly proud of her performance in the piece.

The show 13 Reasons Why was a project Selena Gomez connected to on many levels. She stated in a recent interview that she really connected with Hannah Baker and saw herself in the character. Gomez, like many other celebrities, has experienced her fair share of bullying and harassment through the internet, where people have taken to criticizing everything from her personality to her physical appearance.

Selena Gomez has also previously revealed that she struggles with depression and anxiety and even went to rehab to treat her symptoms and help her cope. The star’s mental health issues stem from her incurable autoimmune disorder lupus SLE. She went public with her lupus diagnosis a couple of years ago.

[Featured Image by Steve Cohn/Invision for Netflix/AP Images]

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