What You Don't Know About The Kids From Stranger Things

The kids of Netflix's Stranger Things have been all over the place since they banded
together to defeat the supernatural in the '80s tribute series.
But unlike the pack of Hollywood teens that claimed the spotlight back in the ACTUAL '80s,
these children seem like anything but a brat pack.
And even though their careers are even younger than they are, there are still some fascinating
factoids about each of them.
Here's a look at what you may not know about the kids from Stranger Things.
Gaten Matarazzo
Like his onscreen alter-ego Dustin Henderson, Gaten Matarazzo really does live with cleidocranial
dysplasia, a rare bone disorder he developed as a child.
As a result of the condition, he never developed collarbones and has not grown permanent teeth.
"That's why I can do that weird shoulder thing."
"OH!!"
Matt and Ross Duffer, co-creators of the hit series, decided to write that detail into
the show and character after meeting Matarazzo.
"I told you a million times my teeth are coming in it's called cleidocranial dysplasia."
Before that, though, he had a tough time getting considered for Hollywood roles as a result
of his condition.
He claimed,
"It was always because of my lisp, me being shorter, and having the teeth issue meant
writers couldn't write in my disability into the show because they had already written
the script."
He did previously have some luck on the stage, but Stranger Things was the first full series
to give him a shot at stardom.
As it turns out, the '80s-centric series was the perfect vehicle for him, too.
"The Goonies is one of my favorite movies of all time."
Finn Wolfhard
Some kids are just born to be a part of the biz.
Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard inherited the entertainment bug from his father, who
happens to be an aspiring screenwriter.
And while his dad helped him develop an early interest in movies, he's now trying to use
his own newfound influence to give his old man an "in."
Wolfhard told Vulture,
"He has like four scripts he's been trying to make."
"He's had deals that have gone through and then they've dropped out.
It's insanely hard for my dad."
"A lot of the reason why I also got into this was to sell his scripts."
Considering how meteoric his rise has been, with 2017's It putting him on the blockbuster
map, perhaps he'll be able to star in one of those scripts himself one day.
In the meantime, though, Wolfhard has also started to dabble in music video directing.
Millie Bobby Brown
Although Eleven is a young woman of few words, the actress who portrays her, Millie Bobby
Brown, is a loquacious little lady with some impressive pipes.
The British actress uploaded several impressive cover versions of pop songs to prove she's
a true double threat.
It's her impressive acting chops that have people excited about her breakthrough performance
as the telekinetic superheroine of the series, though.
Her stock has invariably risen since she sheared off her long locks and became El for the show,
especially since she earned an Emmy nomination for her work in the show and doesn't seem
to be slowing down one bit.
Caleb McLaughlin
Another member of Stranger Things' multi-talented bunch is Caleb McLaughlin, who got his start
playing Young Simba in Broadway's run of The Lion King.
Thanks to his stage work, McLaughlin can act, sing, and dance—and even studied at the
Harlem School of the Arts.
He also knew Gaten Matarazzo before Stranger Things since they were both regulars on Broadway
before breaking out on the small screen together.
Joe Keery
Steve has his real-life counterpart to thank for his survival of the first season, because
it was Joe Keery's niceness that inspired the Duffer Brothers to let him have a happy
ending.
As it turns out, Keery is also completely self-aware because he decided to have a little
fun with his small screen doppelganger -- Parks and Recreation's Jean-Ralphio, and the fan
theory that they were father and son.
"What is happening?"
For a guy who accidentally stumbled into acting, that was extremely well played.
Noah Schnapp
Will Byers might have been rescued from the Upside Down by the tail end of Stranger Things'
first season, but the actor who plays him, Noah Schnapp, was once again kidnapped by
a monster on-screen in a Panic!
At the Disco's music video.
This kid can't catch a break.
And just like his Stranger Things counterpart, he missed out on a lot of the action when
it came to the show's overnight success, too.
"I was at camp when the show came out and when I came back from camp, the show had blown
up."
"Which had me like WHAT this is crazy?!"
Natalia Dyer
The lady behind the lovable Nancy Wheeler, Natalia Dyer, had already been in the business
for quite a few years before Stranger Things dropped.
Dyer quite literally fell into acting when she was a child, after she sprained her ankle
on the first day of sports camp and was put into drama camp instead.
She then went on to get her primary degree at the Nashville School of the Arts, and the
rest is small screen history.
Shannon Purser
Before her ill-fated character Barb inspired some of 2016's most memorable memes, Shannon
Purser was working at a movie theater.
Once the internet blew up with its demands for "Justice for Barb," though, Purser decided
to quit her day job and give the biz a real shot … especially after people started showing
up to talk to her at the theater.
"Towards the end my coworkers would be like hey somebody called in and asked if you were
working right now.
It got a little weird."
With one Emmy nomination under her belt, though, Purser has had no trouble nabbing new gigs,
including a short stint on TV's Riverdale.
Charlie Heaton
If you thought Jonathan Byers seemed to have a lyrical soul it's because in addition to
acting, Charlie Heaton is also a musician.
He played drums for Brit noise band Comanechi until 2014, when they concluded an 18-month
world tour and called it quits.
It was his sister who first prompted him to pursue acting, so he started out by taking
work as an extra while bartending on the side.
He told Interview Magazine that he really lucked out with his first acting gig, saying:
"My first job was a commercial for a Swiss insurance company."
"It was an eight-minute short with a proper story arc, and it ended up getting a spot
at Cannes Lions; I was lucky to avoid the commercials where you're their puppet."
Whether Jonathan remains Nancy's puppet, however, is up for debate.
Tinsley and Anniston Price
The twins who portrayed Holly Wheeler on Stranger Things might've looked a little familiar to
fans of AMC's The Walking Dead because the pair starred as baby Judith Grimes on the
show's fourth season.
Whether this tiny twosome will become the next Olsen twins remains to be seen, but it
certainly doesn't hurt that the girls proved themselves skilled at improvising reactions
to certain moments on the show.
Sadie Sink
Joining our Hawkins heroes in the new season is another young lady with a supreme set of
skills, albeit nothing to do with telekinesis.
Max, a transplant from California, can outwit them all on Dig Dug at the local arcade under
her pseudonym "Mad Max" and skateboards well enough to dub herself the resident "Zoomer"
of the group, even if some members are more resistant to include her than others.
The actress behind all that sass, Sadie Sink, grew close to Millie Bobby Brown on the Atlanta,
Georgia set of Stranger Things 2, despite the fact that their characters share very
little screen time.
The two enjoyed vacations together, dueted on pop music covers, and spent downtime from
the shoot together.
But despite how close the pair were growing behind-the-scenes, Sink reportedly took a
lot of heat from social media users after joining the show because fans were afraid
Max might drive a wedge between Eleven and Mike.
Dacre Montgomery
Last but not least, we have the addition of Billy, your prototypical mean teen with a
mullet, no shirt, and no respect for speed limits.
He looks like a cross between Rob Lowe in St. Elmo's Fire and Jason Patric in The Lost
Boys, but with fewer redeemable inner qualities.
In real life, Dacre Montgomery is hardly the depraved character he portrays in the show.
The Australia native spends his downtime haunting hip hop clubs and making music videos and
starred in the reboot of Power Rangers before he won his role in Stranger Things' second
season.
His initial audition for the role consisted of one very thematically on-point mini-film
he made for the Duffer Brothers.
He told Complex, "I had one day to get my act together, so I made a short film rather
than a self-tape.
It had an opening score, opening titles, and I may or may not have put on a g-string and
danced to 'Hungry Like a Wolf.'"
"Name's Billy.
Nice to meet you."
Nabbing the role was what made him decide to move to the US to pursue his budding screen
career once and for all.
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What You Don't Know About The Kids From Stranger Things

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