Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp Detail Stranger Things Group Chat

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The cast of Stranger Things are keeping the lights flickering in their group chat. 

Even though the popular Netflix show is finishing with its fifth season, the actors – Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink, and Gaten Matarazzo – are still close friends in real life.

You know, when you spend so much time with the same people, it’s all about just making time for each other! I was chatting with Will Marfuggi at the Stranger Things premiere in LA, and I was explaining how it is with my friends – we’re constantly texting, trying to figure out when and where we can all hang out, no matter where anyone is in the world. It’s just a constant coordination effort to make those moments happen!

She added, “Noah and I are pretty active I do have to say.”

Once the fifth season ends with the final three episodes – debuting in parts on November 26th, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve – fans can be happy knowing the cast will stay connected through their group chat, and it won’t disappear like things do in the Upside Down.

Noah, 21, emphasized how close he is to his colleagues, telling TopMob News, “These are my people. I’ve known them for years, and our connection is much more than just work. I truly believe we’ll be friends for life.”

And according to Caleb, fans have one cast member to thank for making sure they remain connected.

You know, I’ve noticed Finn’s really stepped up his communication lately. It’s the little things – a spontaneous photo, a quick text to see how I’m doing, or even a voice note out of the blue. It’s a nice way to stay connected!

With the show wrapping up after nearly a decade and five seasons, the actors have much to consider. Millie shared that she’s grown a lot since beginning the series at age twelve.

She shared that the experience taught her valuable lessons not only about acting, but also about being a good person and friend. She feels incredibly grateful for how it challenged her and provided a strong base for pursuing her aspirations.

Noah is happily remembering the last day of filming with his friends and the cast and crew of Stranger Things.

He remembered that final day as the best of his life. Everyone came, even those who weren’t working on the film, and all their parents were there too. It was a truly special occasion.

Before stepping into the Upside Down on last time, keep reading for more Stranger Things secrets…

Before creating Stranger Things, brothers Matt and Ross Duffer worked on M. Night Shyamalan’s TV series Wayward Pines. Their initial idea for the show was actually called Montauk.

Matt explained to The Daily Beast in 2016 that it’s incredibly difficult to convince people to change a project’s title once a strong preference has formed. He said that when they first suggested Stranger Things, it was a challenge to get others to accept it.

The creators of the show originally planned to film on Long Island, but it turned out to be too difficult to do so.

Matt told The Hollywood Reporter they chose Montauk because of its beautiful seaside location and its connection to the setting of the movie Jaws, which they love. However, they realized filming on Long Island during the winter would have been too difficult and costly.

Atlanta ultimately became the home base for production.

Before Netflix decided to air the show, around 20 other networks had already rejected it, as reported by Vulture. Executives at those networks didn’t think viewers would connect with a series led by four child actors.

4. To play Eleven, then 12-year-old Millie Bobby Brown had to say goodbye to her hair.

In 2018, at PaleyFest, the actress described shaving her head as the most liberating experience of her life. She explained that letting go of her hair felt like revealing her true self, as she could no longer hide behind it. Looking in the mirror, she felt a responsibility to inspire others, realizing that beauty doesn’t depend on having hair.

She found inspiration for her role in both Charlize Theron’s performance in Mad Max: Fury Road and old yearbook pictures of her fellow actress, Winona Ryder.

She remembered Winona Ryder rocking a pixie cut years ago and admitted she was considering getting the same style herself.

The British actress shared a surprising source she used to nail her American accent: Miley Cyrus’s Hannah Montana. She told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show that the show – and the movie – were fantastic and helped her perfect the accent.

The Duffer brothers used scenes from the movie Stand By Me when auditioning young actors to find the four main child stars for their show.

The brothers had a specific vision for the character of Mike. However, that changed as soon as Finn Wolfhard auditioned.

Matt explained to The Daily Beast in 2016 that Mike initially reminded him of the character Mikey from The Goonies. However, Finn Wolfhard, who played Mike, brought a nervous and energetic quality to the role. The writers then tailored the character to fit Finn’s personality and energy.

Gaten Matarazzo, who played Dustin, also had a big impact on the show’s development. According to Matt, they initially envisioned Dustin as a typical nerd, but after meeting Gaten, they rewrote the character to better suit his talents and personality.

After the show became popular, Kellogg’s noticed a big jump in Eggo waffle sales, thanks to Eleven’s love for them. They reported a 14% increase in sales in late 2017, following the release of season two, and October saw a record number of social media mentions for the product.

In early 2018, David Harbour became an internet sensation when he agreed to take a fan’s senior portraits with her. It started when the fan tweeted, asking how many retweets it would take to get him to do her photos. Harbour responded that it would take 25,000 retweets, and he wanted to wear the school sweatshirt and hold a trombone. True to his promise, he followed through!

He jokingly predicted on Instagram that, 24 years later, he’d be known for crashing someone else’s high school senior photos.

Later that year, Harbour playfully used social media again. He offered to perform a fan’s wedding ceremony if she could get 125,000 retweets and promised him the first piece of cake. He became legally ordained and even officiated the wedding dressed as his character, Chief Hopper.

Fans often speculated that Eleven might be Hopper’s biological daughter, but he ultimately became her father figure. A touching detail revealed in the season two finale was Eleven wearing a blue braided bracelet – a bracelet Hopper always wore, made from a ribbon belonging to his deceased daughter – to her school dance.

Oh my gosh, you will NOT believe this! Apparently, Millie Bobby Brown’s first ever kiss was with Finn Wolfhard as Eleven and Mike in season one! She actually said it was so weird having a whole crew – like 250 people! – watching! Can you imagine? She was like, ‘Whoa!’ It’s just… everything makes so much more sense now! It was such a pure moment, and to think it was her first time… I’m officially deceased.

She shared what her co-star secretly told her right before they had to kiss for a second time on the show.

She recounted that he told her he was about to kiss her, but in a very strange way. “He basically said, ‘I’m coming in,’ but he did this weird, almost ventriloquist-like thing with his voice,” she explained on The Tonight Show in 2017. “It was so bizarre!”

Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton, who star as Nancy and Jonathan in the show, started dating in 2016 and have generally preferred to keep their relationship out of the public eye.

Natalia shared with Refinery 29 that she values keeping her personal life—family and friends—private. However, she also admitted that collaborating with someone you see outside of work can be enjoyable. She described it as ‘really fun’.

Surprisingly, Joe Keery’s character, Steve Harrington, wasn’t originally intended to survive the first season of the show.

According to Ross, they quickly grew fond of Joe Keery, who played Steve Harrington, during the first season. This is why they developed a storyline where Steve teams up with Jonathan and Nancy to help resolve the central conflict. Originally, Steve was intended to be a stereotypical, unpleasant athlete, but Keery brought much more depth to the character.

18. Also slated to perish was Eleven. Yes, really. 

In the book Stranger Things: Worlds Turned Upside Down, Ross Duffer explained that the original plan was for Eleven to sacrifice herself to save everyone. However, when they realized the show might continue beyond a single season, they decided against a definitive ending for her character. They understood that the show wouldn’t work without Eleven, and they quickly recognized how talented Millie Bobby Brown was. If Stranger Things continued, Eleven needed to survive.

The seventh episode of the second season, called “The Lost Sister,” nearly didn’t air. The Duffer brothers, in an interview with Vulture, explained they worried the episode—which focuses on Eleven’s search for another child with similar experiences—would disrupt the story’s flow.

Matt explained that as they started writing the episode, they questioned whether it was truly necessary. They even considered cutting it entirely, but the planned ending involving Eleven didn’t work without it. Ultimately, they realized the episode was essential to the story.

20. Eleven’s sibling was written to be a boy, with the episode originally titled “The Lost Brother.” 

Once the audition was open to all young actors, Linnea Berthelsen won the role. The resulting episode showed Eleven meeting her “sister,” Kali. According to Matt, Linnea and Millie (who plays Eleven) had a strong connection, and Millie specifically requested to work with Linnea.

As a lifestyle enthusiast, I always find it fascinating to hear about how actors land their iconic roles! Did you know Nicola Coughlan, who we all adore as Penelope Featherington in Bridgerton, originally auditioned for the part of Robin? Ultimately, Maya Hawke nailed it, and Nicola herself has said Maya was just the perfect fit – far better than she ever could have been, which is so gracious of her! It just goes to show you never know what path your career will take, and sometimes things work out exactly as they should.

She explained that actors can learn a lot by watching performances they weren’t chosen for. It helps them realize rejection isn’t personal – everyone is simply better suited for some roles than others.

Before becoming known for her role as Sarah on the Netflix series Outer Banks, Madelyn Cline played the character Tina, a popular but unkind student, in the second season of the show.

To land the role of Billy, the rebellious older stepbrother of Max (Sadie Sink), Australian actor Dacre Montgomery created a memorable audition tape. He told GQ he aimed to impress the Duffer brothers with a bold and playful performance.

Dacre took a big chance by filming himself dancing in a G-string to 80s hits like “Come on Eileen” and “Hungry Like the Wolf.” He was worried about the video, thinking it could either ruin his career or finally get him noticed. Luckily, the risk worked out for him.

As the show began its third season, Deadline reported significant pay raises for the cast. The younger actors saw their per-episode salary jump from around $30,000 to over $200,000, and potentially as high as $250,000. Winona Ryder and David Harbour were earning approximately $300,000 to $350,000 per episode, while Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton were making between $100,000 and $150,000.

Priah Ferguson was originally scheduled for just one episode in season two as Erica, Lucas’s feisty younger sister. However, the Duffer brothers were so impressed with her performance that they kept adding her to scenes. As a result, she became a regular cast member in the next season.

Because the young actors were still growing during filming, the costume designers had a hard time making sure their clothes fit consistently from scene to scene.

It was a real challenge keeping up with how fast the young actors were growing,” costume designer Kim Wilcox explained to TopMob News. “One child, in particular, would outgrow his shoes about every three weeks, needing a half-size larger. To solve this, we sourced shoes from companies that made the same styles in a range of sizes. We’d purchase five pairs of each shoe so we’d always have a replacement when a child had a growth spurt.

The Duffer brothers drew inspiration from films like The Goonies, E.T., and Stand By Me, but they made sure their references weren’t too obvious.

Matt Duffer explained to The Daily Beast that when they initially pitched Stranger Things to Netflix, they created a lengthy, two-and-a-half-minute trailer. This trailer combined clips from around 20 to 30 movies to give a sense of the show’s overall feel and story. He noted these films were deeply influential to them growing up and were a core part of their creative vision. However, during the actual writing process for each episode, they rarely discussed other movies. Their focus shifted to simply telling the story and letting the characters drive the plot. He said constantly referencing other films would have resulted in a confusing and disjointed narrative.

The team aimed for a retro style by minimizing special effects, but they soon discovered it was more challenging than they anticipated.

Originally, we wanted to rely entirely on practical effects, but we quickly learned how challenging that would be. We really gained a new appreciation for the teams behind films like The Thing and Alien. Creating practical effects takes a lot of time and careful planning. We were writing scripts fast, but didn’t have the months needed to properly prepare everything. On set, we realized some of the ‘old school’ ideas just weren’t feasible given our time constraints.

The creators, the Duffer brothers, originally planned for ‘Stranger Things’ to last five seasons. According to Netflix executive Matthew Thunell, many of their ideas from 2015 are now coming to fruition as the series nears its conclusion. ‘Variety’ magazine reported that each episode of season four cost around $30 million to produce.

Although the Duffer brothers know how Stranger Things will end, they aren’t finished with the story or the Upside Down just yet.

In an interview with Variety, the creators revealed they have a spin-off idea they’re really enthusiastic about, but it’s still in the early stages – they haven’t even shared the concept yet. Although they’ve been trying to keep it under wraps, Matt and Ross confessed that Finn had already correctly guessed what the series would be about, calling it “very, very different.” They emphasized that Finn is the only person outside of the core team who knows the premise.

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2025-11-07 19:51