When the trailer for the fifth and final season of Stranger Things dropped, Millie Bobby Brown had this to say: “I started when I was 10, I’m now turning 20 years old. Feels very weird.” It’s a sentiment that appears to be shared by the Stranger Things fan base. Fans have pointed out that Brown, alongside her co-stars Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, and Sadie Sink, look far older than the 16-year-olds their characters are meant to be. But the question is: why does this bother fans so much?
A large part of the series is about how Will (Schnapp), Mike (Wolfhard), Lucas (McLaughlin), Dustin (Matarazzo), Eleven (Brown), and Max (Sink) deal with adolescence, especially when you factor in the horrors of the Upside Down. And since the series is coming to an end, the actors’ aging is actually on-point thematically.
‘Stranger Things’ Isn’t the First Show Where 20-Somethings Are Playing Teenagers
The fuss over the Stranger Things cast’s ages feels especially ridiculous when considering other popular shows that feature adults playing teenagers. A good example is 90210, which featured a cast of actors in their 20s playing high schoolers. The same applies to other shows, particularly on the CW; Riverdale featured characters who were obviously older than expected. The biggest example, though, would have to be Smallville. When Tom Welling was cast as Clark Kent, he was 24 — a good decade older than Clark Kent was meant to be.
This practice is typically due to labor laws, which limit the working hours of younger actors. But it wouldn’t be the first time that Stranger Things‘ cast grew older than their characters. Joe Keery, who plays fan-favorite Steve Harrington, was 23 when he filmed Season 1; it was a sharp contrast to Steve being 16-17. Likewise, Natalia Dyer was 20 while Nancy Wheeler was 15-16, and Charlie Heaton was 21 while Jonathan Byers was 16. Their ages weren’t a big deal, so why should the younger cast be?
The ‘Stranger Things’ Cast Growing Older Looks To Be Playing Into Its Final Season
The younger cast of Stranger Things has grown older, but that can inform its final season. Series creators Matt & Ross Duffer have confirmed that Stranger Things Season 5 will feature a time skip, taking place a year and a half after the events of Season 4. This means that the characters will age alongside their actors, and it will provide some drama. If Eleven and her friends are older, it’ll make their struggle to beat Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) all the more emotionally gripping as they’ll literally have to grow up. Even the first Season 5 trailer acknowledges how far the show has come, as it mostly features footage from the past four seasons.
The standout scene is between Will and his mother, Joyce (Winona Ryder), who says she remembers the night Will was whisked into the Upside Down. “I think about that night all the time,” she confesses. “Everything changed.” While this refers to how the Upside Down has influenced Hawkins, it could also be a meta-commentary on how Stranger Things – and by extension, its cast — has changed over the years. It’s a reason why the cast growing older actually adds to the story, rather than take away from it.
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The series was first announced in 2023.
Most of the ‘Stranger Things’ Cast Have Started To Build Out a Post-Show Career
The Stranger Things cast has seen their careers expand outside the show, as they’ve been able to star in all kinds of movies. Finn Wolfhard starred in a pair of Ghostbusters movies, Caleb McLaughlin had a stirring performance alongside Idris Elba in Concrete Cowboy, and Joe Keery has appeared in blockbusters like Free Guy. But the biggest success would be Millie Bobby Brown as she’s continued a working relationship with Netflix, starring in films including Damsel, the Enola Holmes franchise, and The Electric State.
If it weren’t for them growing older and being able to push their boundaries, they may not have landed these roles. Stranger Things Season 4 also showcased how the cast had grown up, as they dealt with a darker threat in the form of Vecna. While fans may not want to accept it, the cast of Stranger Things has grown older, and as long as they can deliver a satisfying conclusion to the series, it shouldn’t be a significant issue.
- Release Date
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2016 – 2025
- Network
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Netflix
- Directors
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Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz
- Writers
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Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock