@Courtesy of Netflix
@Courtesy of Netflix
Press Conference With Actors Millie Bobby Brown, David Harbour, Noah Schnapp and Executive Producer Shawn Levy
Q: What do you think is in the Stranger Things secret sauce that made this show such a phenomenon? And how do you think the show has impacted the TV and movie landscape?
Shawn Levy: The DNA, the special sauce, is the combination of the epic and the intimate. As much as people talk about the 80s and the Demogorgons, the darkness and the genre influences, we wouldn’t be what we’ve become if we didn’t invest in these characters the way that we do. Both in terms of how we tell the story and the way the story is received. That is its special ingredient. And as far as how it’s influenced the landscape, it’s probably broken down ideas of what is a movie, what is a TV show.
Those norms and assumptions are much more nuanced now. My hope is that we still live in a storytelling world where networks and studios will take leaps of faith just because something feels special, not because it’s IP or it’s calculated. We had no idea when we made this show that it would be a hit. We didn’t do it because we thought it would be a hit. We did it because we knew it could be special, and the rest has been our reward.
Q: This new season features some of the largest scale we’ve seen, from story threads to visual effects. What did it feel like stepping onto set this year and realizing how much bigger the world had become?
Millie Bobby Brown: I can’t obviously speak much to the sets, because it’s a dead giveaway. But I would say a lot of the show has been quite practical. Our sets this year have felt insane. There’s one specific set that I was in shock about. It’s just unbelievable. That’s the privilege that we as actors get to have, which is not having to imagine absolutely everything and being able to actually work with a world and space. Not having to imagine much is a joy.
David Harbour: In a band you have a bassist, a lead guitarist, a guy on keyboards, a guy on drums, whatever.. The guy who plays guitar doesn’t really need to understand the meaning of the song to enjoy playing his part of guitar very well. It doesn’t matter if there’s a huge green screen or a huge set or something like that. It’s like I’m playing guitar, what I love to do, trying to bring out my element and my voice, which is, as Shawn Levy said, epic and intimate. I much prefer the intimate. I fight for those rich three to four-page scenes with two people going at it, at the heart of what’s going on. So for me it’s about playing my instrument regardless.
Q: The chemistry within this ensemble has always been such a huge part of the show’s magic. How does that dynamic play out on set now that you’re bringing the story to a close?
Noah Schnapp: It’s so crucial to have good chemistry, that was such a major part of the casting and the chemistry reads that we did back in season one, making sure everyone worked so well together. It reads on screen and not just our dialogue that’s scripted, but the improv that happens in the moment that we get to do. We love each other and because we feel comfortable with each other, it allows for moments like that to shine. I’m so grateful that we all do work so well together and get along because it makes the job easier.
Millie Bobby Brown: We’re all, in our own way, outcasts. I think that’s what speaks so well to the ensemble, but also us as individuals and us as actors. When you bring that together, that is also the DNA of our show. What makes our show so great is that people and audiences can feel connected to that flawed character. When we’re on set, I don’t feel like there’s any perfect person. What’s exciting is that you are able to be entirely vulnerable because we all are. And at the same time we’re all entirely ourselves.
Shawn Levy: I’d also add that we went into this knowing this was the goodbye season. The feelings that were real with us as individuals, knowing this was a farewell, were very, very honest and authentic because it’s saying goodbye to these characters. It’s why the season is so emotional.
Q: Through the arc of this series, you’ve had to step up and be brave so often. Has that folded into your real life, giving you inspiration to be more courageous?
Millie Bobby Brown: I’ve always been quite outspoken and brave in my own way. As an actor, I’ve always been quite instinctual and based just off of what I feel in the moment. But in this season, I put a lot more thought into it. Last season I was like: “Right, I’m gonna play the humanity of Eleven this year”. This season I was like: “ Okay, now I’m playing a superhero. This is my last shot, and being a superhero requires a lot of bravery. As an actor, I threw myself into it. I really channeled my inner alpha bear. Sometimes you look silly, but there has always been a space on this set that makes me feel brave and welcomed. It’s like a playground where you’re able to try out new things and see if it sticks.
@Courtesy of Netflix
Q: The initial scripts are known to be tightly under wraps. What’s that experience like for you, reading new pages for the first time and discovering what happens next?
David Harbour: Nerve wracking and terrible. Because when you initially crack it, you have so much love and so many years with this character, you’re just terrified. I don’t have control. These are writers. They have their own thing that they want to do. At the end of each season, I always email the Duffers and tell them what I learned that season about him and what I feel like I’d love to see in the next season. I don’t know if that email gets read. It’s such a weird experience to have to have a character and to have limited ownership over what happens to him. But these guys always do manage to land the plane and impress me as I read. So the first 15 pages are usually full of anxiety. And then as I get into it, I see they’re taking care of it.
Q: Hopper and Eleven’s bond has always been the emotional center of Stranger Things. How was it returning to that relationship this season, especially as she begins training under his guidance?
David Harbour: There are a lot of emotional centers. I love all the relationships in the show. I do think there are so many different colors. To me, it’s a rainbow. It’s a Skittles rainbow of flavors. There are two people that are both lost, both heroic, sometimes beyond their capabilities, both have such big, broad, deep hearts, both are deeply flawed in how they express themselves and make tons of mistakes. I love playing characters like that. I love human beings like that. Millie and I got to do a lot during season two because they really focused the story on us. There were a lot of big broad emotions. Millions of people love Hopper and Eleven and love that bond that they share. They do something so extraordinary this season. Things happen in the best scripts where it’s perfect and it’s unexpected. What happens to these characters after 10 years, you don’t expect this to happen. It happens and it’s perfect. The payoff is deep and rich.
Millie Bobby Brown: I couldn’t agree more. This show brings the most unexpected characters together. In season two, our fighting and really intense and emotional scenes of bonding as father and daughter for the first time, has built this foundation for me as an actor to just play and have fun and find a deep connection between them both. In season five, it’s very funny how easily we slip into the father daughter role and immediately Eleven’s able to bite back at him and he’s able to bite back at her. They have this shorthand that is unique in the show. We’re able to bring that to screen and show the dynamics of growing up and how hard it is to navigate what that looks like. The Duffers wrote that so well this season, and I’m really excited for everyone to see.
Q: As a storyteller, what was the hardest balance to strike in season five, giving emotional closure versus maintaining the suspense and mythology the fans love? Did you prioritize answering mysteries or honoring characters?
Shawn Levy: We prioritized the need to do both. It’s our last season and the scripts needed to finally unravel mysteries, give answers, but through the unexpected, become emotionally satisfying. From its very beginning, Stranger Things can’t just be great three and a half page character scenes. And it can’t just be cool monsters and visual effects. It’s both. They all matter and they matter equally. The final episode of this final season is so masterfully done by the Duffers and by every actor in this cast. I’m incredibly excited. I’m very proud to be a part of this show, but I’m very excited for the world to experience such moving storytelling.
Q: Will has always been at the heart of this story. How did those experiences shape your performance as he steps into young adulthood this season?
Noah Schnapp: It was hard because I wanted to stay true to his sensitivity and quiet intensity, but I also wanted to show a new color of him that is stronger, more assertive and powerful. Balancing that duality of growing, but staying true to himself. It’s been a journey and he’s helped me learn more about myself, and vice versa. I’m so proud to have played him and grown with him.
Q: How has this journey changed you as a human beings? It’s been quite a ride for a decade.
Millie Bobby Brown: Well, I’m a mother. I’m also married. So it’s changed me a whole bunch. I started out when I was 10, so it’s given me a lot more than the average person because it’s like school. It’s like all I’ve ever known. It taught me about being a professional person, about how to hit your mark, what racking focus means, speaking to a director, taking a note. I did everything. I graduated on the show. I learned how to be a friend. You’re in an ensemble of 40 people’s main characters, so it’s like the most unbelievable, you know, experience.
It’s like this fast track of being an adult, a good friend, a good scene partner. It makes you grow up of course, because you are in the light. You wanna make sure that there’s a lot of young people watching you. All of us were very mindful of that. That does make you wanna make good decisions because you wanna inspire people and help. That made me grow up, this has been my anchor. And it’s also made me realize how much it’s okay to have other anchors. In terms of you can also have your own personal life and private life. That’s taught me a lot about being a wife and a mom. It has been such a shapeshifter within my world as a child.
@Courtesy of Netflix
Q: This season puts Hopper back in action mode, but there’s also a real sense of fear beneath his strength. How did you approach balancing that hardened exterior with the vulnerability of a father terrified of losing his daughter?
David Harbour: There’s a really interesting transition in Hopper this season, which is more dramatic than it’s ever been. He has to reawaken this Vietnam vet who’s gotta fight this battle in a brutal way against this force that will not be stopped. I did read a lot of Hamlet when I was doing this, and I think that Hamlet starts out in the play incapable of being able to confront this ghost of his father. What Hopper does come to in a real way, is this vulnerable sense of you are not in control of this situation. You are not in control of this universe. He goes like: “I’m just gonna do what I can do and fight this fight.” There is a vulnerability to that, a new vulnerability that is the acceptance that the universe will be what the universe will be. You can only play your role in this life.
Q: Was there a moment on set, a last scene, a last line, maybe even a ritual when it really hit you that this was the end? And did you get to take anything from the set as a memento?
Noah Schnapp: For me, it hit me like the few nights before I was writing letters, saying goodbye and thank you for everything you guys have taught me and given me these past years. These guys are my family members and best friends. And then of course, that last day was just so, so emotional and a day I will never forget.
David Harbour: It’s complicated. It’s 10 years of knowing these people. It’s bittersweet and there’s a lot of emotion. There was a time where I was like: “I’m not gonna go. I don’t have to go.” And then I drove over there and I sat in the back and I watched them play this scene and just crying. We released some confetti and some balloons, and I had this incredibly cathartic moment of watching these young stars and these young actors who I’ve known so deeply for so many years become men and women. This sense of pride and joy and love for them, for what they’ve accomplished, for who they’ve been in the world amidst all this chaos.
Shawn Levy: Many of the moments in this show now belong to the world. These moments and these characters belong to the world forever. But as I sit here with these three, for instance, what’s coming back to me is like” Oh, I remember those season two scenes, in that cabin, those big arguments. I remember being in that room and seeing these actors make something magic come alive.” The moments belong to the world, but the moments where we got to make it, those belong to us.
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Here’s the trailer for Stranger Things Season 5 – Volume 1: