Dark Secrets The Cast Of Stranger Things Tried To Hide
This article contains references to addiction and mental illness.
After it premiered in 2016, "Stranger Things" quickly became one of Netflix's most beloved series, and as a result, it catapulted a group of talented young actors like Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, and Gaten Matarazzo into the spotlight. The sci-fi drama's popularity grew with the release of each new season and the addition of new cast members, like Sadie Sink and Maya Hawke, cementing its place in the current pop culture zeitgeist.
Of course, the success of the show was what co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer hoped for, but they planned for different scenarios. "The honest truth is we didn't know if it would go beyond Season 1, so we like the idea [that] Season 1 ... could function basically as its own standalone piece," Matt admitted to Deadline. And, if it got renewed for a second season, they planned to continue it as an anthology show, meaning the cast of Season 1 wouldn't return. But the popularity of their characters proved instrumental in the success of "Stranger Things," and the Duffer brothers changed their plans. But for the young cast, growing up in front of the camera came with its challenges — like intense media scrutiny and obsessive fans. Because of that, many of them have been keeping fair few secrets, and some of them are of a darker nature than others. From long-hidden addictions and run-ins with the law to deadly discoveries on set, these are dark secrets the cast of "Stranger Things" tried to hide.
Jamie Campbell Bower's addiction before Stranger Things
"Twilight" star Jamie Campbell Bower joined the cast of "Stranger Things" in 2022 for its fourth season. Shortly after the season premiered, Bower unveiled a secret he'd been hiding for years. He took to X, formerly Twitter, on July 27 and revealed: "12 and a half years ago I was in active addiction."
Bower described that time in his life, saying, "[I was] hurting myself and those around me who I loved the most. It got so bad that eventually I ended up in a hospital for mental health." At the time of writing, Bower revealed that he was seven and a half years sober and grateful to have the chance to make up for his mistakes. "For anyone who wakes up thinking 'oh god not again' I promise you there's a way. I'm so grateful to be where I am, I'm so grateful to be sober. I'm so grateful to be. Remember, we are all works in progress," he added.
Per Bower's timeline, it seems the actor was struggling with his addiction while playing some of his most notable roles, such as young Gellert Grindelwald in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1," Caius in Twilight's "Breaking Dawn" films, and Jace in "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones." From 2012 to 2018, Bower was in an on-off relationship with his "Mortal Instruments" co-star Lily Collins. It seems that after their 2015 breakup, Bower entered into this period of sobriety.
Millie Bobby Brown had no idea she needed to shave her head
Over the years, "Stranger Things" star Millie Bobby Brown has made it pretty clear that she was happy to shave her head for the role of Eleven in Season 1, even saying that it felt empowering to do so. However, part of the story, which is usually glossed over — or hidden — is the fact that she had no idea this was a requirement of the job until filming began, so she was put on the spot.
In an interview with actor Aaron Paul for Elle, Paul asked Brown to recall the moment she was told she'd need to shave her head. "Actually, they were very clever. I got the call back and then I did a Skype meeting and there was nothing at all about head shaving!" she revealed. Continuing, Brown explained: "And then we flew over to LA, and they were like, 'Are you ready?' And I was like, 'For what?' And I was next to Finn [Wolfhard, who plays Mike Wheeler], and Ross Duffer comes up to me and puts his hand out and goes, Bzzzzzzzzz."
Brown's mom was outraged at the demand, but the actor herself wasn't so bothered, and she ultimately convinced her to let her go ahead with it. Nevertheless, it seems pretty shady that no one asked or told Brown or her mom about it until the deed needed to be done.
The Duffer brothers played a dark prank on Noah Schnapp's mom
In "The Body," the fourth episode of the first season of "Stranger Things," Winona Ryder's character Joyce Byers gets the devastating news that her son Will is dead following the discovery of his body in the lake in the previous episode. Of course, Joyce believes all along that the body isn't Will, but it takes a lot longer for everyone else to catch on. That's because it looked pretty lifelike.
After the dummy had served its purpose for the show, with Hopper (David Harbour) confirming it was a fake, co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer took the opportunity to turn the prop into a prank. They told Entertainment Weekly: "If you have a dark side like we do, this was a creepy and fun present. We immediately took Noah's mom aside, told her we had something to show her, and led her into a dark closet where we had propped up this frighteningly realistic corpse of her son. She was startled at first, and we felt like maybe we crossed a line."
The prank was pretty dark and morbid, but after realizing it was just, in fact, the dummy from the show and not her dead son, Schnapp's mom reportedly found it hilarious. According to the Duffer brothers, she was taking selfies with it and sending them to all her friends.
The van flipping scene was more dangerous than fans realized
One of the most memorable moments in the first season of "Stranger Things" is the opening scene of Chapter 7, "The Bathtub," which features an "E.T."-style bike chase scene. Mike, Eleven, Lucas, and Dustin are being chased by Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine) and his associates, who are in large vans. With several vans on their tail and one coming right toward them, Eleven uses her powers to flip the van over their heads so it misses them and blocks the vans behind them. Visually, it was a very cool scene and something that could have been completed entirely using CGI, but Matt and Ross Duffer didn't want to do that. They were keen to make the scene as authentic as possible.
To do that, they had cameras shooting the kids and their reactions, with the rest on the van, which was actually flipped up into the air. The shots were then merged together. But flipping the van for real was a dangerous move because it required real explosives. They told Entertainment Weekly: "One of the explosives didn't go off and the van skidded headfirst into one of our cameras, destroying both the camera and its lenses, and costing the production thousands of dollars."
Their producer was reluctant to let them try the stunt again, but the persuasive Duffer brothers made it happen. "The van soared high into the air, our cameras captured it in all its glory," they concluded.
David Harbour was 'dissatisfied' with his life and career before Stranger Things
Although he's been working steadily as a journeyman actor since 2001, David Harbour is enjoying the height of his career now thanks to "Stranger Things." His biggest roles have come since he turned 40, and along with playing Chief Jim Hopper in the sci-fi series, he's best known for playing Dexter in 2016's "The Suicide Squad," the titular character in 2019's "Hellboy" and Alexei in the 2021 blockbuster "Black Widow." Harbour admitted to Big Issue that landing a starring role in "Stranger Things" was life-changing as he was struggling to make ends meet at the time. Feeling pretty unhappy about his career and struggling with his mental health, Harbour was ready to put Hollywood behind him.
But then he got the role of Hopper, and everything changed. "It felt like I had so much riding on this particular show in general with my life having been what it was up until that point. A somewhat dissatisfied actor in film and television wanting to tell much bigger stories," he told NPR. "Stranger Things" gave him that opportunity. As his profile rose overnight, Harbour has been able to use his ever-growing platform for activism and to promote causes he's passionate about.
Charlie Heaton's drug controversy
Charlie Heaton is best known for playing Jonathan Byers on "Stranger Things." Like his character, who was briefly arrested for fighting with Steve (Joe Keery) in Season 1, Heaton has had his own run-in with the law. According to AP News, the British star was denied entry into the U.S. after a suspected drug offense. He was detained at Los Angeles International Airport in October 2018 when trace amounts of cocaine were allegedly found in his luggage. Heaton was subsequently returned to the U.K. but was not arrested, as the amount of cocaine was minimal.
Speaking out about the incident to Flaunt, Heaton admitted that his fame fanned the flames of the incident. Afterward, he tried to keep his head down and get back to work, but he admitted that it was a pretty dark time for him. "When something steps in from the work you are doing and breaks into your personal life ... you feel kind of vulnerable. All of a sudden it becomes a very big story, and it gets really blown out of proportion," he said.
Millie Bobby Brown was sexualized as a child
Millie Bobby Brown has been in the public eye since she was 12, and while she may have looked slightly older than she was, the British star was very much a child actor who was underage for the first three seasons of "Stranger Things." Brown celebrated her sixteenth birthday on February 19, 2020, and shared a celebratory video on Instagram to not only commemorate the occasion but also reveal how she's been treated as a child actor.
The video showed some of the happiest moments in her life, such as being around her family, friends, and animals and interacting with fans, but it was also peppered with scenes from more difficult moments. It included scenes of paparazzi hounding her and headlines that have been written about her, such as "Millie Bobby Brown criticized for adult style" and inappropriate questions about her menstrual cycle.
Calling out the disgusting behavior in the caption alongside the video, she said: "I feel like change needs to happen for not only this generation but the next. Our world needs kindness and support in order for us children to grow and succeed. The last few years haven't been easy, I'll admit that. There are moments I get frustrated from the inaccuracy, inappropriate comments, sexualization, and unnecessary insults that ultimately have resulted in pain and insecurity for me. But not ever will I be defeated."
Filming this scene terrified Noah Schnapp
The cast of "Stranger Things" is used to filming pretty scary scenes. Right from the get-go, Noah Schnapp, who plays Will Byers, had to film scenes set in the dark and creepy alternate reality of The Upside Down. But it seems those scenes weren't too difficult to film, at least emotionally, as the actor revealed that his scariest moment on set was actually during a more realistic scene.
In an interview for MTV News, Schnapp admitted that he was terrified while filming the shootout scene at the Byers' new house in Lenora Hills, California, at the beginning of Season 4. Explaining that the scene really got to him, he said: "We were running through the house, and the whole day, we rehearsed the scene without the bullets or any of the action of it. So the first take they did was with all the bullets and all the glass breaking and the whole house breaking down, so right on the first take, I felt that raw fear." Millie Bobby Brown, who was also in the interview, added that she felt that fear watching the scene afterward as it was the first take that ended up being used.
A real body was found on one of the Stranger Things sets
"Stranger Things" has depicted some pretty gruesome deaths over the years, but as shocking and disturbing as they were, none of them were real. However, in one case, life seemed to imitate art. Speaking on "The A24 Podcast," stars Finn Wolfhard and Sadie Sink revealed that the abandoned mall in Gwinnett, Georgia, which eventually became the setting of the Starcourt Mall in Season 3, also played host to a dead body.
Sink explained that human remains were found in one of the back rooms of a restaurant space in the mall. "There was a dead body that was found like two, no three years before in like a Subway, like the back of a Subway," Wolfhard chimed in, adding, "and so I think we got it for really cheap." Although they both suggested this was ancient history, these events took place not long before "Stranger Things" moved in 2018. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the body, which belonged to 19-year-old Georgia State University student Silling Man, was found in December 2017. She had been reported missing just months earlier and is believed to have been murdered by her boyfriend at the time.
Finn Wolfhard was followed home by fans
Less than a year into his "Stranger Things" tenure, Canadian actor Finn Wolfhard made his feature film debut playing Ritchie Tozier in the supernatural horror film "It." The 2017 movie was filmed in Toronto the year before, away from Wolfhard's home in Vancouver and the "Stranger Things" filming location in Atlanta, Georgia. Wolfhard was thrilled to be a part of the movie, but unfortunately, he experienced one scary moment which was more akin to a scene from the movie or a "Stranger Things" storyline when he was followed home by a group of eager fans.
Wolfhard was only 13 at the time and admitted to Los Angeles Magazine that it was one of the scariest moments in his life. He recounted the incident years later, explaining: "I was walking back to my apartment, and this couple followed me there. I was thinking the whole time, 'These people are following me. That's not right.' And finally, I got to my door, and they were like, 'Can we have a picture with you?' And I remember being like, 'No! You just followed me back to my home! You know where I live!'" The actor added that he felt generally unsafe when "Stranger Things" first premiered because of his sudden rise to fame and the attention he was receiving.
Jamie Campbell Bower's method acting went too far
Jamie Campbell Bower joined "Stranger Things" to play Henry Creel (Vecna), the big bad in the show's fourth season. Bower took his villainous role in the sci-fi series seriously and prepared for it by method acting. He told Vulture that he committed to the process 100% but that there were times when he was haunted by the character he created.
Playing Vecna definitely brought up a lot of dark feelings for the actor, who has struggled with addiction in the past. "The character is so dark that I wasn't thinking particularly lovely things ... there was a lot of rage going on in my mind. Things would come up as I was talking about my personal experiences, things I didn't realize I had inside me that connected to what I was saying," the actor revealed.
It seems like Bower took his method acting too far, and he said there were times when he didn't feel in control of himself at all. Bower admitted: It was as if something else was taking over my body and mind. Not like I had gone insane, but who I thought I was no longer there. My experience had disappeared. I was constantly thinking dark things. I'm reluctant to say them out loud."
If you or anyone you know needs help with mental health issues or addiction, contact the relevant resources below:
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The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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The Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.