On the show, Justin fronts After Hours and is his longtime crush who motivates Hannah to fake Garrett, just so they can develop real feelings between them. What’s interesting is that the character changed significantly from the source material. In Elle Kennedy’s original books, Justin is a football player, not a musician. The show completely reimagined him, and Heuston had to pick up guitar and piano to convince him.
He also thought a lot about how he wanted to play the role. Deadline said, “I think he’s kind of emo and angry in a lot of ways, but I wanted to give him a heart where he’s not the typical campus bad boy. I wanted people to feel for him and empathize with him trying to follow his heart.” Even the music he played on the screen had real thoughts behind it. He built a playlist of his characters scene by scene, featuring artists like Future, Kings of Leon and Royel Otis, some of whom were included in the show’s final run.
