Surprising Facts About Stranger Things

Updated on July 26, 2022 12:29 PM by Laura Mendes

Our hearts are owned by the children and creatures of Hawkins, Indiana, in the Steven Spielberg film. Eleven and the group traverse adolescence in a perilous environment populated by face-splitting interdimensional animals and phones that require tethering to the wall to function. Terrifying!

The Dustin/Steve bromance we didn't know we needed was introduced in the second season of Stranger Things, which also expanded the mythology of The Upside Down. However, they have just begun filming season 3, so we'll have to wait before we can learn more about life in the brand-new mall that will soon be built in the area.

The show has a real-time travel project as its base

Although there aren't any transdimensional horror-beasts ravaging peaceful suburban communities (that we are aware of), the plot of Stranger Things is based on actual rumors that the US government is using youngsters in reality-bending experiments.

Specifically, the Montauk Project has been mentioned in numerous works of literature, including Lost and Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon. Eleven's experiences in the lab resemble the supposed Montauk Project events in many ways.

The program was initially titled Montauk and was located on the southwestern tip of the Long Island peninsula. (Jaws, another tale of a monster threatening a tiny community and one of several Steven Spielberg films that served as inspiration, used Montauk as the model for the town.)

They interviewed 307 girls and 906 boys for the leading roles

To find the proper persons for these essential roles, the Duffer brothers and casting director Carmen Cuba tackled the enormous task of interviewing 1213 kid performers. They made them read passages from Stand By Me and the pilot episode.

The ratio shows that they searched far and wide to locate Eleven, and despite having access to a plethora of young performers, they promptly cast Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin. clever move

Millie bobby brown was cast in part by Stephen king

Millie Bobby Brown owned a heavyweight. Brown had an advantage in the competition to become a stranger object after the master of horror watched her perform in the BBC series Intruders and tweeted a public compliment about her work. It helps to have someone influential in your corner when you're up against that kind of competition for a role.

The show had unique characters and settings every season, making it almost an anthology series

The Stranger Things that we are familiar with rarely happened. The Duffer brothers intended for it to begin with a monster-centered flashback to the 1980s, but they also wanted it to tell fresh, spooky stories as it moved through the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020 in preparation for its final season, which would debut in 2020.

After the first season, Eleven, Dustin, Will, Mike, Lucas, and the rest of the cast would have left the program. Fortunately, they were aware of the exceptional nature of the team they had put together and decided to stick with it.

Dacre Montgomery's audition tape was unusually shirtless

In the second season, Dacre Montgomery portrayed the greasy-headed Billy Hargrove. Randall Flagg, a well-known Stephen King villain who has appeared in several of the author's books, was a nod in the character's design.

However, Montgomery convened numerous other demons throughout his tryout. He performed the rehearsed parts as he went along, but in the scene where he tries to run down Max's (Sadie Sink) new pals, he added a Duran Duran song, started dancing, became a little crazy, and finished the performance without a shirt and a mustache.

Ross Duffer claimed they didn't need to fly him out to Los Angeles to hire him. Having seen thousands of auditions by this point, he declared that this one was by far the craziest he had ever seen. Thankfully, it was played during the Netflix board meeting.

Eleven is an E.T. Model

Eleven pays homage to E.T. in the first season by donning a pink dress and an odd blonde wig, but the Easter egg also hints at her entire alien persona. As a result, Eleven uses body language more often than spoken, much like Spielberg's extraterrestrial marvel.

Brown recalled, "[The Duffer brothers] informed me that the performance that they wanted me to imitate was E.T. and that interaction between E.T. and the kids. Ross and Matt said, "Basically, you're going to be an extraterrestrial," which I found to be quite interesting.

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Once brown arrived at the stage covered in glitter

When describing the special difficulties of working with a young cast, the Duffer brothers often cite a tale in which shooting was briefly interrupted because Brown mysteriously arrived on site covered in glitter. No, they were never able to determine the source of the glitter. No, they never have to be concerned about David Harbour experiencing that stuff.

Noah Schnapp's mother was the target of a morbid joke by the duffer brothers

Will Byers, whose disappearance kickstarts the entire episode and whose faked death hides the government's covert experiment, is portrayed by Noah Schnapp (for about five minutes). When a prop body that the show had bought from Fractured FX arrived, it was utilized to frighten Schnapp's mother.

The Duffer brothers claimed that they "immediately pulled Noah's mother aside, told her we had something to show her, and led her into a dark closet where we had propped up this horrifyingly lifelike corpse of her son." Schnapp's mother took photos with the fictitious corpse and texted them to her acquaintances. She loved it after the initial shock subsided.

The gang participated in trick or treat

Even if you're on a hugely successful Netflix show, it's probably much simpler to remain anonymous when wearing a mask. They also have a group chat called Stranger Texts, and all the kids are well-known for being buddies in real life. They've even gone on Halloween adventures together. "This one child inquired, "Are you the Stranger Things cast? "Brown clarified. 'No, I'm Harley Quinn,' I said."

Bob Newby nearly had a different destiny

The adorable lunk of Sean Astin Bob Newby provided a mystery solver and a Boy Scout's moral compass for the second season. However, the character has changed significantly since his inception.

Although Astin is a living tribute to The Goonies, the Duffer brothers weren't sure they wanted him for the role because they thought he could stand out too much as a famous geek idol. They intended to have Astin and the character survive, but they were too good. The way they planned to get rid of him, however—Will would kill Bob—is what shocks.

It was planned for Evil Will to appear much before the season and put an end to the man dating his mother. Fortunately, the plot was abandoned, and Astin persuaded the Duffer brothers to kill him horribly in the style of Jaws. Bob, you died a hero!