After almost three years of waiting, we are finally getting to see our favorite Stranger Things gang back together to solve another huge mystery. Reactions to the first volume of the series’ fourth installment are up and as promised, it’s definitely a lot darker–and probably their scariest–compared to the previous season.
Season 4 does feel a lot more mature. Several of the main characters—portrayed by Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler) Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), and Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield)—are now all grown up as teenagers. In case you didn’t know, the series started filming back in February 2020 but the show halted mid-production because of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this break, the young actors basically grew up offscreen. Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers) is also back this season, but he now has a new BFF in Eduardo Franco (Argyle).
We at Cosmopolitan Philippines were lucky enough to have a short chat with Noah, Charlie, and Eduardo. This adorable trio shared some of their funny off-cam moments on set, plus the craziest fan theories they’ve read about their characters!
A lot of people have been saying about this season is the darkest season of all the seasons. How did you prepare for it, behind the scenes? Did you do anything to decompress and just shake off the the intensity of the scenes?
Eduardo: I think maybe we were just hanging out. On-and-off chat was helpful but I don’t know if I’m like, that guy...You know what I mean?… I don’t think any of us were like that...there’s nothing wrong with being like that. It’s just sometimes, it’s like you can hop in and you can hop out.
I guess to decompress, maybe from just anything in general...playing video games with Charlie and Finn and playing poker with Noah, that’s probably the way I felt like I was decompressing. Maybe it’s a way to get away. Everybody has to have a way to escape. And those were fun moments. really good fun moments especially playing poker with Noah, man. It’s so crazy. It’s so funny trying to duke him and tryin’ to like… I would just put all in all the time and Noah would get so mad so he would do it, too. And like I didn’t have anything so I was obviously losing and he would end up losing, too.
One of the many joys of Stranger Things is that it perfectly balances the fun, supernatural stuff with relationships and connections between its characters. What would be the most satisfying for you between these two?
Eduardo: I think just seeing it come to life and especially with these guys that are so pleasant to be around and so helpful, I think it was a cool thing to experience because during these crazy times, it’s very easy to get wrapped up in all of the negative of what’s going on, the fear of ‘What if,’ you know, with COVID and all that stuff. But everybody was very pleasant to be around and very helpful.
And I think that to me was just the most satisfying thing. I was not only playing–obviously, the acting and stuff that I get to play–and once they hit cut, it’s like we’re still playing around, we’re still goofin’ around, still goofin’ up.
What’s the craziest fan theory you’ve read about your character or the show itself?
Noah: There’s not one specifically but I just, I’ve seen a bunch and they’re really interesting to read. I mean, a lot of them are just shipping, like relationships with different characters and who they want to see together. And it’s just fun to be in that space of power and knowing everything and seeing them, these people just are guessing and don’t know anything.
Charlie: I think the most prevalent one for my character was that Hopper is my dad… Your [Noah's] dad is Lonnie. I mean, supposedly both of our dad’s Lonnie. But someone was saying that may be Hopper, because you know, Joyce and Hopper hooked up when they were younger.
But I don’t know, I don’t know. I don’t really have Hopper’s physique. I’m more of a Winona [Ryder] physique. I did feel like the first season kind of helped that ‘cause it was like, Hopper, he was like, very protective of Jonathan. There was a few scenes...but I don’t know.
Eduardo, you have an interesting string of teen comedy appearances, from Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart to Netflix’s The Package. What was the shift to sci-fi/horror like?
Eduardo: It’s a pleasure. It’s an honor, man. And it’s… just steadily trying to figure out how to do thing that is the dream, right? The thing that I love. I’m still trying to figure this out. I mean, as far as genres go, and with the stuff I’ve done, it’s never been like...this might sound like a lame answer but it’s stuff that I’m going out to choose.
My career, it’s never been like, ‘I feel like doing a movie where I cut my penis off,’ that kind of movie. You’re feelin' me? It’s more of…I don’t know anything and I’m not familiar… I don’t know anybody, really. It’s just been like I’m gonna try out for this part that I’ve been fortunate to be able to even have the opportunity to audition for. You know what I’m saying?
Basically, taking everything that comes and just seeing what happens. So hopefully, moving forward, I will be able to make those sort of decisions about, ‘You know what? I feel like doing this,’ or ‘I feel like doing that.’ Hopefully I do get to see those days where I get to work towards something like that.
But as far as genres go, what Stranger Things is like…I’m kinda taking everything as it goes. I don’t know how to explain it. I just wasn’t born into it. It’s as if they let me be in it. It’s kinda like that. If they feel like I’m tolerable for the part, then absolutely man. If you all think I can do [it]. That’s kinda how I’ve been.
Stranger Things 4 Vol. I is available for streaming on Netflix on May 27, 2022. Meanwhile, Vol. II will start streaming on July 1, 2022.
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Answers have been edited for clarity.
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