- - “Stranger Things” cast says goodbye to the series after a decade

Nick RomanoJanuary 1, 2026 at 2:00 AM

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Courtesy of Netflix

The cast of 'Stranger Things' in the series finale

On the Friday afternoon of Dec. 19, Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer gathered at the Netflix-owned Paris Theatre in New York City with cast members who were in town for press appearances.

Among those in attendance were Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), and Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna/Henry Creel).

This was the first time most of them, with the exception of the Duffers, saw the series finale, titled "The Rightside Up," the 2-hour-plus conclusion to the runaway streaming sensation that began nearly 10 years ago in 2016. In a note posted to Instagram more than a week later, Ross Duffer described this moment as "an emotional and cathartic experience for all of us."

"While we’re finished telling this story, we are family now," he added, "forever."

Hopper (David Harbour) and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) in the 'Stranger Things' series finale

Everyone involved in Stranger Things continue to wrap their heads around what life will look like for them moving forward now that the show that changed all of their lives is over. Millie Bobby Brown, for one, started filming her role of Eleven at the age of...well, 11. As the series finale arrives on Netflix this New Year's Eve, the actress is 21 years old and the mother to an adopted baby girl with husband Jake Bongiovi. Her fans around the globe have watched that journey in real time from season to season over the years.

"It really has to be in my face for me to be like, 'Oh my God! It's happening,'" Brown tells Entertainment Weekly. "A year in advance, I wasn't thinking about it because I was like, 'We still have a year to go.' But then on the last day [of filming] it really hit me. Actually, the night before it really hit me."

She sits next to her costar, Schnapp, as she says all this — one of her closest friends whom she chose as her child's godfather. For him, the most emotional moment was "saying bye to everyone." He says, "Knowing that I won't ever see them again in the same space was really tough. I think the day after [filming ended] was just devastating for me."

If you ask any of the cast, most will pinpoint the table-read as one of the more unexpected cathartic moments. They expected to be in tears on their last day of filming the show, but the read-through, with all the cast gathered together, became an emotionally charged day.

"I actually had to drive home, and I had to wait half an hour in my car to really calm down before I drove," Brown says.

Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson in the 'Stranger Things' series finale

McLaughlin, who started the show at 13 and is now 24, felt it much earlier than most back in season 4. That, he says, marked "our last time looking forward to a new season. In that moment, I was like, 'Whoa. This thing that's been a part of my life for so long is gonna have an ending to it.'"

Matarazzo, 23, couldn't tell you the specific day on set of the final season when this reality set in, but he does remember sitting in the hair and makeup trailer, chatting with the first assistant director. "He goes, 'Hey, by the way, nine weeks! ... Isn't that crazy?' and then left," the actor behind Dustin remembers. "That's on your calendar and it's not that far away."

He also points to Christmas 2024. "As holiday plans were being made with my family, that's also when we were all prepping to leave the show," he continues. "So hearing about what we were gonna be doing for Christmas that year was kind of somber because only 10 days before that was our wrap day."

The show has irrevocably changed the lives of the principal cast. Sink, who wasn't convinced fans would take to her character Max when she first filmed that new kid role at the age of 14 for season 2, now has a Taylor Swift short film, a Tony nomination (for Broadway's John Proctor Is the Villain), and a Marvel movie (next year's Spider-Man: Brand New Day) under her belt at 23.

Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Winona Ryder, Maya Hawke, and Finn Wolfhard on 'Stranger Things 5'

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Wolfhard, also 23, can now call himself a movie director, having made the horror-comedy Hell of a Summer. He admits he was "in complete denial" about Stranger Things ending until the last shot on the last day of filming. However, he acknowledges, "It feels like it's the end, but it also doesn't because it's the end of that time."

"It's the end of that specific life circumstance that we all had when we were in a routine where we saw each other, but also sometimes it doesn't," he continues. "There are pieces of it that don't feel like they're over just because we're all still a family. We still see each other all the time. So there are parts of it that are always gonna last forever."

"Within our off-seasons," Sink says, "everyone's gone off and dipped their toes in other things and made a name for themselves outside of Stranger Things, even though this will always tie us together and be what brought us to where we are. But when I think about it, it's interesting 'cause I've been [acting] my whole life but in different capacities. I think of Stranger Things as the thing that catapulted me into the public eye, I guess, but as far as working, that's always been a part of my life.... The end of the series, yeah, it's bittersweet, but I'm just excited to see what comes next and grow more and fail and succeed. We'll see."

All episodes of Stranger Things are available to stream on Netflix.

on Entertainment Weekly

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