Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Maya Hawke, & Joe Keery Chat With Netflix Queue
Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Maya Hawke, and Joe Keery sat down with Netflix Queue to discuss their hit show, Stranger Things. The cast was in the middle of production on season four when it was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlights from their interview are below.
Natalia on Nancy’s future in season four: “I think Nancy’s lonely. With Jonathan leaving, who can she relate to? Who’s there? I mean, it’s the 80s, so it’s not like you can just hop on Skype or FaceTime. It’s a big break. It feels a little bit like the end of an era. But that instinct Nancy has, that curiosity and determination, I think it’s just part of her personality. She’s not going to forget that part of herself. I can really see that going further.”
Joe on his scenes with Maya: “You read a script and you think, Oh, that sounds fun. That will be really great to film. But when you show up on the day and you’re tied to a chair for eight hours, it can be difficult just to get in and out of the bindings. The actual mechanics of it were uncomfortable, but working through that scene was really fun. And it was a prelude to the final scene in the bathroom, which was one of the more rewarding scenes to do, and which helped the characters’ relationship come full circle. Whenever the stakes are so high, it brings an immediacy to everything that you’re doing.”
Maya on playing the show’s first L.G.B.T.Q.+ character: “I was really happy about it for a simple reason. There are a lot of complicated reasons, but the simple reason was that I think it’s really amazing to show a male-female relationship form on camera that isn’t about sex. Most of the time, that’s an undercurrent in one direction or another, and for Steve and Robin, it really isn’t. Even if Steve thinks it is for a little while, or it gets confused, as soon as it’s taken off the table for him, he’s equally invested in the friendship. He reacts so unbelievably well, and their friendship gets deeper. That was really important to me because that, also, was unique — not just being the first L.G.B.T.Q.+ character, but having one of the few aromantic friendships between a man and a woman on mainstream TV. It’s really cool to me.”
You can check out even more from their interview here. Stranger Things is available to stream now on Netflix.
