Original subtitles

- "Stranger Things 2." - Oh my goodness.

- Wow, we just look so young.

- And I was very nervous. - This is a funny scene.

- There were some moments where I was kind of like,

"Will this hurt their feelings?"

- But it was so much fun. - You ready?

- Let's do this. (remotes click) (static crackles)

- Chapter One. - MADMAX.

- Chapter Two: Trick or Treat, Freak.

- Chapter Three: The Pollywog.

- Chapter Four: Will the Wise.

- Chapter Five: Dig Dug - Chapter Six: The Spy.

- Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister.

- Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer.

- Chapter Nine: The Gate.

Get ready to meet a new face with-

- Chapter One: MADMAX.

(upbeat synth music) (door thuds)

- Ah, this must be our new student.

- I think this was like

maybe the second or third scene

I ever shot on "Stranger Things",

and I was very nervous.

- This is the Halloween season. - I remember how much fun

that we got to have

with Sadie during the early process

and like during like the chemistry reads and stuff.

- But I had to play it so cool,

because she was full of angst. - Maxine.

- It's Max. - Sorry? - And I was so excited

about that to like be a part of the audition process

for when they were finding Max.

- The boys were always so full of energy and funny

and made me feel very, very welcome.

So after the first couple of scenes, I felt a lot better.

Max definitely has a lot more edge

than Sadie did. (laughing)

- What are you working on? - Okay, of course.

- Who's zombie boy? - Oh whoa. - Me.

- Did someone call you that?

Hey, you can talk to me. You know that right?

Whatever happened.

- Wow, Noah's so cute and little.

- My voice was so high.

- Like there's something wrong with me.

- What are you talking about? - I feel like it

definitely works, the Byers' family.

Like we also have such chemistry with each other.

I love my scenes with Charlie.

I think that brotherly relationship is so nice

and also that relationship definitely translates offscreen.

- You know, Season 2 obviously,

you see that relationship,

Will comes back and you see the family a lot more.

Something very natural about there's a child in it.

It's like, you feel kind of protective.

It wasn't like too hard to stretch the imagination.

- But what? Do you wanna be normal?

Do you wanna be just like everyone else?

Being a freak is the best, all right? I'm a freak.

- Is that why you don't have any friends?

- I have friends, Will. - When I meet fans,

that's the one like line that they bring up a lot.

Like, "I'm a freak. Being a freak's the best."

It's nice, it's such a lovely little written scene.

It just really shows the dynamic.

- Hey nerds, got your Ghostbusters costume ready to go?

- Stranger Things 2, Chapter Two: Trick or Treat Freak.

(upbeat music) (camera clicks) - Adorable, baby!

Just adorable. (camera clicks)

- You are such a nerd. - Shut up! - Erica.

- Just the facts.

- Yes, I remember this. Oh my god, I look so young.

She's basically just like saying snarky remarks in this,

you know, she's being sassy, being a typical little sister,

but I look so young, like I was nine when I did this.

I did this in like fifth grade.

It's really fun tapping into a side

where I do show attitude.

But there were some moments where I was kind of like,

"Will this hurt their feelings," you know?

But then I kind of had to think, "Well they're actors.

They know I'm acting."

I'm not a mean person with an attitude.

Erica was only supposed to be a one-time thing

and then they ended up writing me

where they could or where it made sense to.

In Season 3, I became a series regular.

- Oh, I remember this.

This was so much fun with the Polaroids.

- All right, that's the last one.

No, just one more. - There were so many cute

Polaroids of the kids.

Isn't it crazy that Finn went on to be in "Ghostbusters?"

I don't think that was even on the horizon then. Wow.

Na, na, na, who you gonna call

- I love that there were all these

holiday aspects to the show.

The sort of like glee and dread of the kids

having to dress up in the costumes was delightful.

(ominous music) (kids chattering) - Mike. - Guys.

- I remember this in the trailer

and people thought something bad was gonna happen

and it ended up being this. - That's cool.

- Yeah. - Yeah, everyone thought

that I was looking at like a demon.

- Yeah. - Coming from the tree line.

(bell ringing) - I know.

- You know what about that pic?

There's a picture of us in that

and my patuchus looks insane. (group laughing)

- It just looks insane in these.

- You'd think that like I get used

to like where to put my hands in a take,

but no. - And it's just gotten higher.

Like it just like...

- I always think I'm like, "I gotta stand normally,

lemme put my hands on my hips,"

as if anyone does that. - In real life.

Was this when the extra said hi to you?

- I remember that. That was really funny.

Where like we were walking past and there was somebody

who was background acting in the school.

There was a lot of kids, and some of 'em were pretty stoked

that they were getting to do the show

and I think one of them tried to like say like,

"Hey, what's up?"

And gimme a high five. - But it came out as-

- What happened was they just grazed my hand and went, "Hi."

(group laughing) It was like, "Oh, hi." (laughing)

- And actually, we weren't stalking you.

- No, we were just concerned because-

- Huh,. Well, I did that rub eye thing on purpose too.

Lucas is a weirdo.

- Is that why you're wearing proton packs?

- I always felt so connected to Max.

I knew that I was really meant to play this role

but I was still so nervous

and every time I went in for an audition I was like,

"Oh God, like is this gonna be the time

that they tell me I'm cut?"

- This was a fun scene.

I love working with Gaten but yeah, Sadie's so great.

I feel like it's just like supernatural.

This is how we are just in real life.

- I went in for the chemistry read with Caleb and Gaten

and I think we did do this scene.

- Such an honor to go trick-or-treating with you.

- Yeah, I mean we know where to get

the full-sized candy bars.

We figured you'd want in.

- That's presumptuous of you.

- "That's presumptuous of you."

There was a question of whether or not

I was too tall or something.

We just got to talking and it was like,

"Oh, we're just kids at the end of the day,

acting like normal kids."

It felt right, it was the perfect fit

and I just remember walking away from that

and thinking like, this might work.

I think I might be doing this scene again.

- You're new here so you probably don't have any friends

to take you trick-or-treating so, um, you'll come?

(door thuds)

- He's like, "Nah, she just dubbed us."

One thing about Lucas, I think he knows when it's a dub.

He's like, "Yeah, she just dubbed us. It's a dub, bro.

Let's get outta here." (Sadie laughing)

- Is it bad? Lucas? Is it bad? Lucas?

- Okay, this is Stranger Things 2,

Chapter Three: The Pollywog.

Let's watch this thing.

- It's a simple question. Am I in or out?

(soft music)

- I was really mad because I had practiced

very hard to learn how to do this stunt.

- (sucking teeth) Damn.

- And then they used my stunt double

because they were worried I was gonna get hurt.

So I was very upset but it's valid.

- It was like a magnet or something pulling on my board.

I know that sounds crazy. - Magnet, eh? (laughing)

Who could that be?

- This is one of my favorite scenes

'cause I love Max and Mike's dynamic so much.

I also was so scared

'cause I knew the fans were gonna hate me.

Like "Ah, they think I'm gonna ruin Mike and Eleven."

- That was one of the first scenes I ever had with Sadie.

We were all really excited for a new person

to come and spice things up.

- I love acting with Finn and we barely get to do it.

Like I feel like our characters

never really have that much work together.

- I grew up skateboarding and stuff

so we used to skateboard together, it was awesome.

- I had never been on a skateboard in my life

before I started playing Max so I had to learn for the show.

I got pretty comfortable on it

but I really didn't like it all that much.

I think once you are kind of forced into doing something,

maybe it's not as fun.

Luckily I haven't gotten the skateboard out

as of recent seasons

'cause there's not much time to skateboard

when we're fighting Demogorgons.

- I think some of the best episodes

of the show are Season 2

and we were excited to sort of like open the world up

a little more and the Duffers had more money

as filmmakers to be able to do crazier stuff.

Getting into blockbuster movie mode.

- All right guys, let's check out Season 2,

Chapter Four: Will the Wise. (soft music)

I love this hair and this outfit. - Mama!

Mama? (sobbing) Mama! - It's so sad.

I think that scene is just so heartbreaking

because the one person she knows she's related to

and knows that she's meant to have in her life

'cause she sees Mike has a mom

and she sees like Will has a mom and she knows she has one

and the fact that she's not there anymore

is like heartbreaking.

- This is Stranger Things 2, Chapter Five: Dig Dug.

- It's like, it's like he's reaching into Hawkins

more and more, and the more he spreads,

the more connected to him I feel.

- I remember this scene.

- I can't believe, like now doing this season,

this character just does not get a break.

- I didn't even really know it was there.

- Oh my goodness.

- It's like when you have a dream

and you can't remember it

unless you think really hard. It was like that.

- I remember pieces maybe of that day.

Noah is amazing. He's so good.

- Will was forever changed after that day

where he was kidnapped into the Upside Down.

- He's tapped into this thing that is

so unlike the world and him. That's so disturbing.

- Don't you think it's weird? - Aw. - What?

- That we only seem to hang out

when the world's about to end.

- It's not going to end.

- It feels like it. - Those crazy kids.

(soft music) - Still have yours?

- So this scene was originally written differently.

- Hmm. Yeah, mine's bigger. - Aw.

- Congratulations. - Thanks.

- We were like, "It feels like it needs-"

I can't remember what it was.

It didn't have the scar thing in it.

- I can't remember which hand it was on to be honest.

But yeah, they really, they healed very well somehow.

- To us?

- All I can keep thinking about is like, wow,

we just look so young. - A nice moment.

I think we had the idea to like call back to that

at the end of Season 3, I believe.

- Yeah. Will needed me. And Steve.

- But wow, just so young.

Gosh, we're both so young.

- Yeah, like only a month. - I want them off.

(switch clicks)

- We're gonna watch Stranger Things 2, Chapter Six.

- The Spy. - Woo-hoo! (upbeat music)

To taking down the man.

- Taking down the man. - Taking down the man.

- I really had so much fun with Charlie and Natalia.

They were very good hosts.

I was very much a guest of this show at this time.

- Oh, no, no, no, we can't.

- Yeah, no, no, I've gotta drive. - Drive?

- It's great that this was in the '80s

because I am giving teenagers alcohol. (laughing)

But you know, that's what you did back then.

It wasn't as big of a deal. You know?

- I remember this so well.

We shot it over a few days

in a different studio they'd set up.

- Seeing that set really showed me,

and added so much to my understanding of, who Murray is.

It just was so meticulously crafted.

- No, no. I mean we're we're just friends.

- Friends. (Murray laughing) - Mm-hmm. Sure.

It was great to work with Brett in this space.

You know, he's amazing and he's a comedy genius.

- Something to do with your dad. - What? No.

- To see so clearly. You, you're harder to read.

Probably like everyone,

afraid of what would happen if you accepted yourself

for who you really are

and retreated back to the safety of-

Name? (fingers snapping) Name?

- Steve. - Oh. Steve. We like Steve. - Yes.

- But we don't love Steve. - What?

- Murray is a seer, you know? - No.

- I mean, I do. (Joe chuckles)

- Murray in all situations,

even those in teenage love, sees the truth,

sees what's going on pretty immediately.

Doesn't take him very much time

to notice what's actually happening

and who people actually are.

- There's a pull-out sofa in my study if you want,

but if I were you I'd just cut the bullshit

and share the damn bed.

- Not everyone can have your perfect hair, all right?

- It's not about the hair, man.

The key with girls is just-

- The start of it all, the start of the duo.

- Oh man, look at Gaten.

- This is my favorite scene of the whole season.

I love the parallel it has to the first train track scene.

They're at a crossroads.

Everybody there is kind of scared of what's to come

and they resonate with each other.

- It's like before it's gonna storm, you know?

You can't see it but you can feel it, like this, uh...

electricity, you know?

- Oh, in like in the electromagnetic field

when the cloud in the atmosphere-

- No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Like a, like a, like a sexual electricity. - Oh.

- Seldom do we get like pages of dialogue.

But this is one of those moments

and it's just really fun to play something out like this.

- So that's when you kiss her?

- No. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Slow down, Romeo. - All right.

- It's such an ensemble effort

because two characters that are so different

from each other can relate to each other

in a very comedic and endearing way.

- Then also just working with Gaten,

even at that age it was so clear his a skill level

and his talent and his natural charisma that he has.

- Nancy's different.

She's different than the other girls.

- Yeah, she seems pretty special I guess.

- And I remember when we were growing up,

we always just like, we're so excited when he was on set

'cause he was like cool older brother.

It's like, "Joe is here." He was always so funny.

So nice to us, so talented.

- The first opportunity in the show that I had

that was kind of disconnected to the teen storyline

so I was really excited to be working with Gaten

in sort of this odd couple relationship

that we kind of develop throughout this season.

- To be able to continue working with him

in most of the show was the absolute gift.

And he's just such a good friend.

- You do four puffs of the Farrah Fawcett spray.

- Farrah Fawcett spray? - Yeah. Farrah Fawcett.

You tell anyone I just told you that

and your ass is grass, you're dead, Henderson.

Do you understand?

- It feels like the gravity of the situation

of Dustin learning this big secret,

it feels like a real moment of connection

despite it being a very minute detail

that really I'm sure no one would have any issues with,

of him using Farrah Fawcett hairspray.

- If you're kind of doing it with like a little wink

at the camera, it doesn't play as well

as when you just really do it

kind of seriously and earnestly.

- Farrah Fawcett, really? - I mean, she's hot.

- Eleven learns more about herself

in Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister.

(upbeat music) The rebel queen And I look real hot

- This is a cool episode. I love this episode.

Dead end kids in the danger zone

All of you are drunk and stoned

- I loved filming this. It was so much fun.

You're not alone - Bitchin'. - Bitchin'.

- I felt like her inner badass is actually showing.

The roar of the city lasts all night

You like drugs, you like brew

- Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer. Let's do this.

(ominous music) - Oh, Bob. No!

Oh, I loved working with this man.

I'm so sad they killed him.

I remember Winona marching around base camp

yelling at the Duffers that they cannot kill Sean

because she loved him so much

and she loved working with him.

And I echo that same thought.

I am so heartbroken that they killed him.

He was such a good dad for Will. He needed that.

- No! (Joyce screaming) - Oh my God. This is gory.

(ominous music) Oh my God. (monster growling)

(Bob screaming) - Bob! No!

- Yeah that was pretty heartbreaking. I miss him.

It's sad to see all the soldiers we've lost along the way.

But you'll be missed, Bob Newby.

- The shadow monster. - It got Will

that day in the field.

- All these drawings, they were good.

- Props to Will's artistic chops.

- Nah, it's underrated. - His drawings look great.

- His drawings are like sick.

- Oh my God. Look at Joe.

- The shadow monster's inside everything,

and if the vines feel something like pain,

then so does Will. - And so does Dart.

- Yeah, it's like what Mr. Clarke taught us.

The hive mind. - Hive mind? - Mr. Clarke.

- Everyone wanted to look like 14-year-old Finn.

I remember that. - What? (laughing)

- Like you were like peak 14-year-old kid look,

like you were that. - My hair looked like a-

- Like a carved onion. - Yeah. - No, it looked

like kind of cool. - A perfect mushroom.

- It looked cool though. - Like a perfect mushroom.

- What if you still had it?

- Yeah. And I'm completely serious.

(insects chirping) - Like the Mind Flayer.

(finger snaps) - Like the what? - What?

(book thuds) (suspenseful music)

- The Mind Flayer.

- This big shadowy spider in the sky.

- It's the mitochondria of the cell.

- It's the powerhouse. - Hmm.

- It's an interdimensional creature

that doesn't necessarily have a shape.

This dust that goes throughout a lot of living creatures.

- Particles. - And has like

one collective large mind.

Through this mind, it manipulates these particles

to do its bidding.

And those particles can be in humans,

they can be in monsters like Demogorgons.

They can even be in other living things

that like carve tunnels out into an open world.

- This is the best metaphor. - Analogy. - Analogy.

That's what you're worried about? Fine.

An analogy for understanding whatever the hell this is.

(ominous music)

- This is one of my favorite episodes.

- In this scene I was like, "Everyone has a weapon,

could I have a weapon?" And they were all like,

"Uh, yeah, you can have this candlestick."

And they just gave me a candlestick from the table

and I really used it.

There's been a running joke on set

ever since this scene.

- Him and his stupid ass candlestick. (laughing)

- There's me seeing Eleven.

- There he is, there's the boy. This is classic.

This is what it's been building up to this whole time.

- And Steve's like, "Who the hell is that?"

- Eleven finally revealing that she's

indeed alive, has indeed grown. (soft music)

It builds so beautifully.

We all know it's coming but to finally see it,

it's so earned after so long

and it's just a beautiful little moment

that I'm so happy that I was able to watch be shot

even though I'm just like standing in the back.

- Those scenes were always so fun when like the whole cast

was always in a room because it was obviously very chaotic

and probably hard for the directors to wrangle all of us.

But awesome to be able to talk with everyone

and work with everyone in between takes.

The only thing I can remember is the candlestick honestly.

It was like a heavy metal gold.

Like even this year when we were talking about weapons,

the Duffers were like,

"Don't you just want the candlestick again?"

- Okay, here we go.

Stranger Things 2, Chapter Nine: The Gate.

(ominous music) (Finn panting)

(metal clanking) (liquid dripping) - Nancy?

- This is a funny scene.

Finn's face in the beginning is perfect.

Just that like, "Uh, you good?"

- Don't touch it. (Joe laughing)

- Hey, buddy. - Then Gaten... (laughing)

- Look at these kids, man.

He kicked your ass but you put up a good fight.

- You're okay, you're okay. This scene was so fun.

- Okay, you're gonna keep straight for a half a mile

then make a left on Mount Sinai.

- What's going on? - Sadie with the game face.

- Relax, she's driven before. - Yeah, in a parking lot.

- That counts. - Oh my God.

- They were gonna leave you behind. - No.

- But I promised that you'd be cool.

Okay? - Whoa. Whoa. What's going on? Oh!

Oh my God. (engine revving) No! (Caleb laughing)

Slow down. - I told you he'd freak out.

- Stop the car! - Everybody, shut up!

I'm trying to focus.

- Oh, that's Mount Sinai, make a left!

- What? - Make, turn left!

(engine rumbling) (metal clanks)

- It's like still how I drive to this day.

(Caleb screaming) (Caleb laughing)

- Joe was so funny this day.

Finn could not stop laughing.

Joe kept saying random bits and improv-ing

and Finn could not hold it together.

It was a great day. It was so much fun.

- I completely forgot about that scene.

It's such a good one. Very "Mad Max."

- I remember having all that makeup on for sure.

I was really kind of beat up at that point in the show.

The moment of me calling him Nancy... - Nancy?

- An improv on set that we ended up keeping

'cause it was kind of funny.

(engine rumbling) (Caleb screaming)

- Caleb at that age, like that was his scream.

(engine rumbling) (Caleb screaming)

- I know that scream. It was a very high-pitched scream.

Yeah. (Caleb screaming)

- Like that was just the register

that he was able to scream at.

It's so good. (laughing) - Ah!

I can't even do it anymore.

It was an iconic scream.

I used to do it a lot on set just to have fun

and I'll be like, "Ah!"

They'd be like, "Who is that?"

I'm like, "Caleb. Ha ha, I can scream that loud."

No one could do it.

And they put it in and it was great.

(Eleven screaming) - Help! - Yes. Very physical.

Oh. This one I do remember very well.

- It's not working.

Mom, are you listening to me? - Oh my god.

It's crazy 'cause we are filming in this cabin now

and it's such a like throwback

'cause I remember doing this there on like my last day

of filming in Season 2.

I think this was my last day. (air whooshing)

All the screaming was really intense.

I remember like sneaking these water guns onto set

and having a water gun battle with the makeup designer Amy.

It was really rewarding

because it was the last day of filming.

Yeah, it's crazy to look back at.

(monster growling) (monster gurgling) - Dart.

- Classic. I remember this. - Dustin, get back.

Dustin, get back! - Trust me.

- I always thought it'd be so funny

if he just pounced and killed me. (laughing)

I know it's not what happens. - It's me. It's me.

It's your friend. It's Dustin. It's Dustin. Hi.

- I think this is actually really interesting.

It's like a weird little deep dive into the fact

that like even though that these creatures are controlled

by a collective evil hive mind

that there is like a bit of personality there.

Like there's a bit of, I guess, a soul

in these creatures somehow.

It's like a human being raising a tiger cub.

- Shut up. - I've got our favorite.

- And it was my first time working with a lot of CGI

and that was a bit of a challenge.

That was really, really fun. - Look at that.

Yummy. Here, all right? Here you go, buddy.

Come on. - There was a guy with a stick

that had a Demogorgon head taped to the end of it

that we could all react to.

So we had like a reference point of what it was doing

and where it was moving.

- I remember, so there was nothing there

and we had to like, "Oh, they're bumping into you."

- He gave such a personality to it too.

Like as I was talking to Dart, he would like tilt its head.

I was like, "You don't gotta do all that." It was amazing.

He like made Dart a legit scene partner.

Rest in peace, Dart,

because I really wanted him to stay alive

so he could be my pet up until this season

so that I could ride him into battle.

- Come on, let's go, let's go! (monster growling)

(rocks rumbling) - Oh, God. - Jesus.

- Filming in those tunnels was really fun.

I remember we used dandelion seed

to make the spores in the environment.

- Like that day, I remember Finn had a really bad

allergic reaction to the dandelion spores

that were floating around.

And so from that point on we had to use

these like different spores.

- Come on, come on. - Come on, hurry up.

- Something to make the spores

of the Upside Down in our environment

'cause I remember it looking really, really cool.

- Oh my gosh.

Yeah. This was some backbreaking work,

lifting all these guys.

It was just a real fun atmosphere on set.

I mean, there's been a core group

that has been there since the beginning

and to be a part of that has been like a real wild ride.

(upbeat music) - Oh. The drum beats out of time

If you're lost, you can look and you will find me

(Gaten laughing) Time after time - Very '80s hair.

- Wanna dance? - Very '80s everything.

I mean, yeah. - Come on. - This is so sweet.

Time after time - Here. Closer.

- This is like the first time since like the first season,

I actually had a scene with Nat

and it was really, really fun.

- Gaten is one of the most talented actors

I think I've ever worked with.

He's, I mean he really just kills it every time.

- All my brother's friends, you're my favorite.

- I think everybody remembers

that a school dance feels like life or death,

and this is a really, really cute moment.

- It's just so crazy seeing him

and all the kids, you know,

when they were really, really young

'cause they've all grown up so much.

I'm so proud of them. - And they'll wise up.

(Gaten laughing) You're gonna drive 'em nuts.

- You think so? - Oh, I know so.

- Did the boys tell you about Fernana?

- We kept laughing at Caleb saying, "Fernana."

Why would somebody use that phrase?

- Great read, Maya.

- I just love that they wrote this for Karen.

- She spends the whole season dressed like this.

- Huh? Have I despaired? No.

- Our group is such an odd blend of characters.

- That was such a fun season.