Stranger Things 5: Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, Finn Wolfhard, and Jamie Campbell Bower
The cast on growing up, letting go, and closing the book on a generation-defining story
Stranger Things has always been a story about growing up, but for this group of actors, it’s also been the backdrop of their own lives. Across a decade, they’ve moved from childhood into adulthood inside the same world of Demogorgons, Dungeons & Dragons, and Hawkins heartbreak.
This press conference brought together Jamie Campbell Bower, Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, and Finn Wolfhard — four performers whose characters have shaped the emotional and thematic spine of the series in their own distinct ways. Each of them has grown with the show, and each of them had a deeply personal perspective to share.
This article — the second of three — is based on the hybrid press conferences I attended on November 8, 2025.
Becoming Vecna
Jamie Campbell Bower began the session by reflecting on the sheer intensity of his process. He didn’t downplay it. “The artistic process that I went through for this show was arguably the most in‑depth process I think I’ve ever done for any specific role,” he said. For him, taking on Henry Creel and transforming into Vecna wasn’t just about performance, but responsibility. “I felt such a level of duty… maybe because of its success and the hard work that’s been put into it by all these amazing people… and Matt and Ross Duffer as well.”
Jamie spoke at length about how deeply he explored the psychology of the character. “I was trying to fully understand the reasons that this person was the way that they were… a lot of stuff to do with primary caregiver relationships at childhood and the trauma.” Season 5 continued that exploration, but he held back on specifics. “I had more of those moments in season five as well… but I can’t say too much because it’s a development throughout the season.”
He also revealed a moment of eerie coincidence: “The day I got cast, I remember walking down the street, and there was a guy wearing a Vecna D&D t‑shirt. I’ve not seen a Vecna D&D t‑shirt since.”
Growing Up Beside Lucas
Caleb McLaughlin has been with the show since he was thirteen. His reflection was striking in its honesty. “My artistic journey was the development of me in my adolescence,” he said. “The scripts kind of wrote my life out in a way.”
Being a child actor on a show this big meant he had to grow into his craft while growing into himself. “At 13, I didn’t really know much. I just knew what I loved and expressed myself in that way.” But Lucas became a lens for understanding experiences he had never faced. “I’d read the script and be like, I’ve never been through that… so how would I react to that? How would Lucas do that?”
Over time, Lucas and Caleb shaped each other. “Lucas kind of merged with my personality in a way… I had to put Caleb to the side and put Lucas in the forefront.” That process impacted him more deeply than he realized. “Reflecting on the past… whoa, I’ve been on the show almost half my life. That is a part of my development.”
Optimism and Craft
Gaten Matarazzo approached his reflection with the same warmth fans recognize in Dustin. “It’s harder for me to find things that haven’t been impacted by the show,” he said. Starting so young meant understanding the mechanics of a film set earlier than most actors do. “It’s very rare for people our age to have the literacy of how a set works on a day‑to‑day.”
He talked about the comfort and security that came with growing professionally inside a long‑running series. “When you show up on a set or in a theater, you have those anxieties or uncertainties out of the way… you can just hunker down and focus on what you enjoy doing.”
What he values most is the consistency, something he admitted he took for granted for years. “I think sometimes I forget to actively think of that… but it’s something I value.” Letting the show go, he admitted, is hard. “I’ll always have next season in case things don’t tend to work out… and now you kind of just have to dive in headfirst.”
Later, when asked about Dustin’s optimism, he dug even deeper. “Without him, I probably would be a tremendously more pessimistic person.” Playing the character helped him hold onto a part of his younger self. “It almost felt like affirmation… giving me the tools to remain consistent in that department over the course of this decade.” And he didn’t hide his gratitude. “I’m a very, very lucky individual. And I don’t take that for granted.”
Leadership and Community
Finn Wolfhard immediately joked, “I haven’t changed a bit,” but his real answer showed a lot of reflection. Being so young on such a massive series could have been overwhelming, but he credits the group for keeping each other balanced. “The only reason why we’re all doing as well as we have been is because we have this community we were able to come back to.”
He pointed to the Duffers as central to that environment. “It softened the intensity… it’s a testament to the Duffers on how much they care about their actors and their crew.” He also emphasized how naturally the show absorbed new cast members. “When we added Sadie, it felt like she had been there. When we added Jamie… it was such a gift to have people join the family.”
On playing a more mature version of Mike returning to his strategist roots, Finn said, “It was awesome to step back into that role… to go back to his roots as a kid.” He spoke about the universal theme beneath Mike’s journey. “In the end, you always come back to your core beliefs and what you think is right… there are all these different roads you can go down, but what are the things that truly matter?” Season 5, he said, returns Mike to that essence. “It was a reintroduction of those beliefs that Mike holds so dearly.”
Starting From Loss
Season Five doesn’t offer a reset or a moment to catch its breath. Gaten described how unusual it felt to begin without any sense of victory. “It’s a completely different type of start to a season,” he said. “It ends with us pretty clearly losing for the first time… we’re starting from scratch and that’s pretty scary.”
That sense of loss, however, doesn’t paralyze the group. Gaten emphasized that the response is instinctive. “In Stranger Things fashion, we go about that challenge with just as much enthusiasm and intensity and fierce desire as we always have.”
Finn echoed that emotional tone when looking ahead to the latter half of the season. “I would say it’s like a bittersweet second half,” he said, pointing toward an ending shaped as much by consequence as closure. “It answers a lot of questions people have been asking about the show.”
The Weight of Trauma
For Caleb, Lucas enters the final season carrying more than the immediate aftermath of Max’s fate. “This was one of Lucas’s most traumatic moments… he felt like it was his fault,” he said, describing how that guilt reshapes the character.
But Lucas isn’t defined solely by that pain. Caleb explained that the strength audiences see in him comes from everything that came before. “We capture him in this stoic sensibility of resilience… he’s taken so many tools from moments in past seasons.”
Rather than retreating inward, Lucas leans on the people around him. “He has the support of his friends, the support from his past, and is just ready for whatever comes next.”
Holding Onto Hope
Hope, for Gaten, isn’t something Dustin performs — it’s something that’s been shaped over time. “It’s hard to… but I think a lot of that optimism stemmed from who I was at 13,” he said, tying the character’s outlook directly to his own younger self.
Playing Dustin helped him preserve that instinct. “It almost felt like affirmation… giving me the tools to remain consistent in that department over the decade.” That consistency became something grounding, especially as everything around the characters grows darker.
He ended on a note of perspective rather than optimism-for-optimism’s sake. “I’m very lucky and fortunate to be in a situation where I can prioritize optimism when so many aren’t.”
Scale and Emotion
Finn was asked what struck him most when reading the scripts — the scale, the emotion, or how it ties back to the beginning. His answer covered all three. “The scale is so huge… season five blew that out of the water.” But what amazed him most was the balance. “What I was most impressed with is how the Duffers handled the world‑building… the big set piece stuff… with the really emotional character stuff.”
He spoke about the difficulty of switching between massive action and intimate emotion. “Halfway through an action sequence, you have to have this really emotional moment… that’s very hard to juggle.” But he praised the cast for pulling it off. “The whole cast is so good at that.”
Looking Ahead
As the press conference moved toward its ending, the cast was asked to describe the tone of the upcoming Volume Two without spoiling anything. The question quickly turned playful, starting with one-word attempts before expanding into something more reflective.
Gaten kept things honest: “It’s large… it’s very cool to be a part of a project where you basically are making a feature film every time you’re starting a new episode.” He talked about the rare privilege of working on a show with that level of ambition: “That is quite rare… something this show has done brilliantly.”
Finn took a more emotional route. “I would say it’s like a bittersweet second half,” he said. Season Five’s latter chapters, he hinted, aim to close loops the audience has carried for years. “It answers a lot of questions people have been asking about the show… I haven’t seen it, so I’m excited to see it.”
Jamie, with his typical dry humor, offered a single word: “Broad.” And Caleb simply added, “Mystical.” Both answers, while brief, captured the way the cast sees this final stretch — big, emotional, and full of the mythology that anchors the entire story.
Final Reflections
The second press conference captured a different kind of nostalgia than the first. Here were four actors who have grown into adulthood in front of the world, each shaped by the characters they’ve embodied for nearly half their lives. Jamie unpacking the psychological depth of Vecna. Caleb reflecting on Lucas as a defining part of his own adolescence. Gaten grounding his optimism in both character and real life. Finn tracing Mike’s journey back to the heart of who he was as a kid.
Each of them brought something essential to the series, and each carried the weight of the ending with a mixture of pride, gratitude, and uncertainty about life after Hawkins.
Season Five marks the end of a decade-long chapter — not just for fans, but for the performers who grew up inside its world. And if their reflections are any indication, the final episodes will carry the same blend of scale, heart, and humanity that has defined Stranger Things from the beginning — the epic and the intimate, side by side.
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