[This story contains major spoilers from the series finale of Stranger Things.]
The end of Stranger Things did not disappoint. The supersized series finale — which streamed on Netflix and released in 600 theaters across the country on New Year’s Eve — pushed the show created by Matt and Ross Duffer into the pantheon of Netflix series in terms of viewing totals. Netflix users spent 325.6 million hours watching season five last week, and the screenings pulled in an estimated $20-$25 million in theater chain revenue over that period.
When speaking recently to The Hollywood Reporter, the Duffer Brothers, who wrote and directed the finale, “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up,” said they consulted all of the actors about their endings so they could stick the landing. “They know their character inside and out,” said Ross Duffer. “So we wanted to make sure that they also felt good about where their characters are.”
The ending that changed the most, they revealed, was the rooftop scene for the older teens on the series played by Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Maya Hawke and Joe Keery. “We worked on it mostly on the day with the actors and there’s an even longer version of that scene that’s at least five minutes longer,” Ross revealed. And the teary final scene with the main younger cast played by Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Caleb Mclaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo and Sadie Sink passing the torch of childhood onto the next generation led by Nell Fisher transcended acting.
“When you talk about real feelings fueling a fictional scene, in the last 15 minutes of the finale, you have that very deeply,” executive producer Shawn Levy told THR. “You have scenes that are about these characters, but scenes that also capture the feelings among these actors and all of us who made this show together for almost a decade.”
As for Millie Bobby Brown’s up-in-the-air ending for Eleven — if she truly disappeared or is still out there, as Mike (Wolfhard) chooses to believe — the Duffers are leaving things open ended. “The characters can’t know and the audience can’t know because then it puts Eleven in danger and her sacrifice was for nothing. So there’s a point in not knowing. The boys obviously choose to believe. I’m not sure what the majority of people are thinking, but dipping my toes a little bit into social media, it seems like people are choosing to believe and are going to Mike Wheeler route,” Matt Duffer told THR.
Below, THR spoke with many on the ensemble throughout the final season’s release about their feelings when they read and filmed their final scenes. Here’s what they’ve said about bidding goodbye to their last decade of starring on Stranger Things.
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Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
“I felt pretty good about Nancy’s ending. I personally felt very satisfied. I also felt heard by the Duffers. We don’t get final say, but we get some sort of input on those situations, and the ending felt right to me. When it’s the end, you’re thinking about your character. You’ve spent so much time with them, so there’s a lot of care by this point about where they’re going and what’s going to happen to them, so it was very natural to want to advocate for her. When we wrapped the final scene, it was surreal. My last day is definitely a core memory of just being so, so, so present and trying to grasp everything that’s happening — and everything that’s happened and everything that’s going to happen in one moment.”
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Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley)
Image Credit: Netflix
“I felt so happy when I read Robin’s ending. It was the happiest I’d been in any read throughs on the show. I thought it was overwhelmingly beautiful. Then when it came to film, my last day was my favorite day on my entire history of Stranger Things. And it was also one of the most heartbreaking and emotional days. What’s going to stick with me most are these people [on the cast]. The friendships that have come out of this that I never would have expected, more than my wildest dreams. It feels like a graduating class; I feel bonded to these people forever and that we will always have each other, as people who knew us as we were forming into ourselves. I think for a lot of people that’s what their college friends are like. And for us, that’s this.”
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Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers)
Image Credit: Netflix
“It was emotional reading the ending. What I remember most about reading the last page is that when we got to the last sentence and turned the page, I remember looking up and nobody knew what to say. Even the Duffer brothers, who always know what to say, didn’t know what to say. And that was it. There was a stillness in the room. We had never experienced that at a table read before. The crew from the last 10 years knew we were filming our last scenes. The sun was coming down and we only had a certain amount of light to film this scene that we knew was our last, and it was way beyond when the light had gone — I don’t think the brothers could call ‘wrap,’ because they didn’t want to say goodbye. We were doing it over and over. I’m like, ‘I’m pretty sure we’ve got it.’ Then there was this really long pause, and that was it. There was a truth to the acting. You’re always looking for truth in what we do, killing yourself trying to find it. Sometimes you think you’ve found it and you didn’t. And with that scene, it didn’t feel like acting. I’ve been working with and seeing these people for 10 years. There aren’t many things you can say that about.”
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Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna/Henry/Mr. Whatsit)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
“When I read my ending I felt emotional. Super, super emotional. I know that’s a blanket word to cover many things and many feelings. But I felt very emotional. I’ve had the most amazing time making this show. It’s been such a blessing. It has changed so much of my life. It takes up a lot of brain space when you’re playing a character like that. You’re constantly thinking about it. Was it as lonely? I suppose, personally, it became less lonely as the journey went on, and particularly as we got to episodes seven and eight. Now I’m feeling a lot lighter. It’s been really nice to unpack [these final episodes], and with the finale out, I’ve released him.”
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Noah Schnapp (Will Byers)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
“I remember crying a lot at the final table read. They had us read it for the first time all together and I just think it was perfect. They really left nothing more to be told. Once I wrapped, I felt it was time to let Will go. Now I’ve really made peace with it, and especially sharing these final episodes with the fans, the fact that these stories have been told and the journeys are done. Even though the story is over, I’ll take with me the lessons I’ve learned. I’m going to take the relationships with me forever, and I just hope this show can have a lasting, positive impact.”
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Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
“Max’s ending was exactly what I expected. I had been teased at certain things, but reading it was one thing and doing it was another. It felt so surreal to be filming those final scenes. Finn [Wolfhard] put it in a great way. He was saying that the last day of filming was the best day of his life, which sounds weird because it was so emotional. But it’s because everything that the show meant for us came to the surface on that final day. So feeling all of that gratitude and sadness and the mix of everything was so memorable. I’ve never experienced anything like that. The Duffers did a good job of finding the right moments to end each of our characters’ stories and to have a good scene to wrap on. We all tried to be there for each other on each other’s last days. And when we all watched the finale together, I cried so much. I feel like I grieved it properly and I got it all out of my system. But I fear there’s more coming.”
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Nell Fisher (Holly Wheeler)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
“The ending is perfect. I’ve been asked if I filmed an alternate ending, because sometimes series do that in case it gets spoiled. But there couldn’t be one — this is the only way the series could have ended.” – Derek Lawrence
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Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
“My mind was pretty blank when they called ‘cut’ on my final scene. I didn’t have many thoughts. I knew that I was around a lot of the cast, and we wanted to spend as much time as possible taking as much time for ourselves as possible. Experiencing these feelings together was really important. When I first read the ending, I felt sad. It was a melancholy way of reading, because I thought it was the perfect way to end. But at the same time, I was sad to say goodbye to the show.”
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Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
“I’m so grateful and honored. I cherish every second I get to spend with the people, but also my character. I’m going to miss the best friends I got to make that I’ll keep with me forever. The people, the crew, the cast, the Duffers, Shawn [Levy], Netflix — they’ve taken care of us so well.” – Carly Thomas
Read more of THR‘s postmortem coverage after the series finale.
