Selena Gomez served as an executive producer for the critically-acclaimed Netflix series “13 Reasons Why.” The show tells the story of a teenage girl who commits suicide and leaves behind tapes to let 13 people know why she did it and how they were involved. Katherine Langford plays Hannah Baker in the series, and, rather surprisingly, hails from Australia.

Unknown from Australia gains instant fame through ’13 Reasons Why’

While Langford was pretty much an unknown actress in Australia, she has adopted a pretty convincing American accent and has risen to fame in her new role as Hannah Baker in "13 Reasons Why." However, Gomez noted that her presence on social media was decidedly lacking.

Knowing a thing or two about being famous, Selena recently went on to persuade Katherine to go public on Instagram.

According to a report by Seventeen, Langford told The Last Magazine that it was a big decision for her, as she always wanted to be an actor, but purely for the work. She wasn’t attracted to increasing her popularity – or her chance of being hired – on social media. She said she didn’t want to become a “consumable product” and just wanted to do her job, then disappear. Langford also admitted that she had a fear that her pictures wouldn’t be “cool” enough.

However, Gomez made a point that got through to Langford. She explained to her that “13 Reasons Why” is a show that targets young adults just like herself. She then told her that social media, and particularly Instagram, is a good medium for direct contact with others who can relate to Hannah, her character in the show. Since then she has posted several images that have drawn a huge following, and, after two months on Instagram now, has almost two million followers.

'13 Reasons Why' – a career defining moment

As reported by the West Australian, Langford is 19 years of age and a graduate of the Perth Modern School. Appearing in “13 Reasons Why” is a career-defining moment for the young actress, who was first spotted in Sarah Portelli’s short film “Daughter” at the Cannes Film Festival last year.

She has gone from being a relatively unknown actress to a hit on Instagram, right through to reviewers dubbing her “the Gem from Down Under” and the “next big thing.” Some critics are even saying her performance in the Netflix series could earn her an Emmy nomination.

The show is based on Jay Asher’s best-selling mystery book of the same name and was created as a series by Brian Yorkey. Yorkey said Langford showed “incredible courage” during the filming of some of the show’s most harrowing and distressing scenes.

As for Selena Gomez, she cannot picture anyone else being Hannah and is glad things worked out the way they did, and that she got to watch it all happen.

For those readers who haven't seen the show, the Netflix trailer for "13 Reasons Why" is included below:
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