The Untold Truth Of Ross Butler

You could never accuse Ross Butler of taking things easy during the early stages of the pandemic. The "13 Reasons Why" star might not have had any lines to learn, but he developed an exhausting list of hobbies to keep himself busy during his unexpected downtime.

Butler learned how to speak Japanese and Arabic, picked up the classical guitar, rediscovered his love of cooking, chess and literature, and took up wood carving, the latter of which he told Bello has become his favorite way to pass the time: "I wanted something I could make with my hands — a physical object. It's great for disconnecting from my phone and from social media for an hour or two." In fact, Butler speaks about carving as if it was more zen than a Buddhist yoga session: "The way I was taught is a very calming technique where you don't really think about carving any specific shapes — you let the grain guide you. It doesn't require a ton of focus, so your mind is free to think about whatever it wants to while your hands are busy."

The actor also told VMan in 2020 that he's appreciative of having some time and space to himself after several years of being on the Hollywood treadmill: "I've had all these ideas in my head and I finally have no work and reduced socializing so I can just be creative and get s*** done."

Turns out that Ross Butler has plenty of brains to go with his brawn. Before attaining pin-up status, the "Riverdale" star briefly attended Ohio State University to study biomolecular and chemical engineering. But after dropping out of the course a year in, he realized where his true calling lay. And he has a generous friend to thank for his career awakening.

Yes, for his 21^st birthday, Butler received the gift of a $25 acting class in Los Angeles. And this allowed him to explore a talent which had previously gone untapped. The star subsequently began to pursue a career in Hollywood, even though, as he admitted to Euphoria in 2019, his knowledge of the entertainment world was non-existent.

Butler said, "Of course, we all know acting from the standpoint of watching TV and movies, but there's a whole other part of the iceberg that we don't see ... The business of acting, the rejections, going to acting class, and there are just so many factors that people who aren't in the industry don't see. The whole moving to L.A. situation for the first two or three years was the biggest challenge for me." Luckily, Butler's initiative paid off, as by the age of 23 he was sharing the screen with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in feature-length Google ad "The Internship." 

Ross Butler wasn't allowed to watch a lot of TV while growing up. But his mother did let him develop a love for movies, with "The Breakfast Club" and "Forrest Gump" particular favorites. Unfortunately, much of what the youngster saw, or more to the point, didn't see, left him confused about his identity.

In a 2020 interview with Esquire, the actor admitted that when it came to the usual rites of passage, he always looked to Hollywood for guidance: "When I wanted to ask a girl out in high school, I watched how they did it in the movies. I could relate, but there was still a disconnect in that I didn't look like those characters, and I felt different because my mum wasn't a white homemaker who baked cookies every Saturday."

Butler, whose father is English-Dutch and mother Chinese-Malaysian, expanded on this disconnect in a chat with Men's Fashion Post: "Being mixed-race, I didn't know what my identity was. I didn't fit in with my white friends and I didn't fit in with my Asian friends, so I was always trying to change who I was in an attempt to find out who I really am." But the "Shazam" star also acknowledged that this constant reinvention helped him to prepare for life as an actor, too.

Ross Butler spent four seasons playing high school jock Zach Dempsey in Netflix's binge-worthy teen drama "13 Reasons Why." So it's perhaps inevitable that some aspects of the character rubbed off on him, and that's including his reckless spirit. Luckily, the actor managed to channel this particular trait into something more positive.

Speaking to Flaunt in 2020, Butler revealed that playing a teen with substance abuse issues, penchant for violence, and a complete disregard for any consequences in the show's fourth season actually helped to change his outlook in real life for the good: "Getting into that mindset was a little cathartic for me as well, I started to let go a little bit with my diet and with my working out, allowed myself to just enjoy a little bit and weirdly that fed into not worrying about too many different things."

Butler also admitted that he already shared many qualities with Zach before the character went off the rails, including a rational streak and strong moral and logical compass. But the star was also keen to point out that he's far more vocal about anything he sees as an injustice: "Zach was a little bit of a coward at the beginning, and over the four seasons, you kind of see him turn into a man and take responsibility for himself and his friends."

Ross Butler's IMDb page may have looked a lot busier had he been less selective about the roles he auditioned for early on in his acting career. But there was an admirable reason for the "Shazam" star being so choosy: He didn't want to reinforce the stereotypes of Asian Americans any further.

In an open letter published in Teen Vogue in 2018, Butler explained why he turned down so many cliched parts: "If you see me walking down the street, I don't want you to immediately pin me as a martial artist or a nerd without getting to know me ... If Asians were better represented onscreen, perhaps you wouldn't be as likely to have preconceived notions about me or put me in a box."

The actor then questioned why Asian Americans are rarely given the chance to play the love interest or a three-dimensional baddie. And he also offered some advice to the industry on how to eradicate all the clichés: "We want real, non-stereotypical stories, with narratives that have long been cast off as side characters — those plot lines should be moved to the center. People of color and other minority groups have interesting things happening to them all the time! And these events aren't always related to their race!"

It seems fair to say that Ross Butler's mother didn't approve of her son's career choice. In fact, she didn't speak to the teen drama favorite for several years after he ditched his chemical engineering course at Ohio State University to pursue his Hollywood ambitions.

Speaking to Paper in 2018, Butler revealed that his Chinese-Malaysian mom saw acting as trivial and as a job that couldn't guarantee security. And the star believes that something needs to change in his culture to make his profession seem like a more viable route: "I think the problem isn't necessarily the decision to go into the arts. The problem is allowing Asian American kids to be creative at a younger age so that a choice down this path doesn't seem so radical or out of the ordinary."

Luckily, Butler is now on much better terms with his mom and was even able to draw from their conflict for one particular "13 Reasons Why" storyline involving his character Zach and his "tiger mom." In 2020, he told Flaunt, "That scene was especially hard for me, not to understand it, but more so to portray it because it was playing super close to home. It was emotional to try to tell my Asian American brothers and sisters that you need to open up to your parents and they should probably open up too. It was a tough, but rewarding storyline for me."

When asked about the state of his love life by Glamour in early 2021, Ross Butler claimed that there wasn't really much to report: "It's hard because we've been in COVID for a year now, so I haven't gone on any first dates in a while. I'm out of practice. My dating life is a little cold right now."

Step forward roughly nine months, and the "13 Reasons Why" star looked to be getting in plenty of practice. Yes, Butler was spotted hanging out with "Knives Out 2" actress Madelyn Cline on numerous occasions during Milan Fashion Week — they were even filmed showing off their dance moves inside a restaurant together — sparking rumors that the pair had become an item.

Cline had previously been dating Chase Stokes, her co-star in Netflix teen drama "Outer Banks" (via Us Weekly). But the pair's no-show at the Met Gala in 2021 was viewed by many as a sign that they'd gone their separate ways. None of the parties involved have publicly commented on all the gossip. But if Cline truly has swapped one heartthrob for another, then let's just hope she likes charades. In his interview with Glamour, Butler revealed that any potential love interest must share his passion for game nights: "I don't want to bring a girl over who isn't about it or doesn't want to play. That's just not going to be fun for anyone, and that's not a date I want."