'13 Reasons Why' actor Devin Druid talks about controversial scene from season 2

Actor Devin Druid defended the controversial sexual assault scene from the second season of "13 Reasons Why".

The season of the controversial Netflix show saw Druid's character, Tyler Down, brutally assaulted as Montgomery de la Cruz (played by Timothy Granaderos) sodomises him with a mop handle, which garnered criticism from many viewers.

Druid came in support of the graphic depiction of the incident, saying the team has always tried portraying difficult moments without feeling the need to "sugarcoat" or "censor".

"I think people are always going to have opinions on the show and what we do, but I think it's staying true to what the show has been about, and that has been taking on these tough issues and trying to show them in these truthful lights," Druid told Entertainment Tonight.

"We can't sugarcoat it or censor it at all, because that's not how these events happen. And I think it is this, trying to portray and make people understand what happens in these unfortunate and tragic circumstances," he added.

Druid also said it is their responsibility to accurately portray "the pain and humiliation" and stigma around assault on men on screen.

"As an actor, I felt a lot of responsibility to accurately portray the pain and humiliation that one can go through when they're assaulted in this way, especially with the stigma around sexual assault with men.

"Especially this age of toxic and fragile masculinity, I think, that plays a big part in this idea of men being raped. It's not something that people think about a lot," he said.