Stranger Things cast say goodbye to the Netflix series

NEW YORK – Outside the Paley Museum on West 52nd Street on Dec 18, about 50 fans lined barricades in hopes of spotting members of the Stranger Things cast. They had come from as far as Texas and started arriving at 2pm, clutching posters, playbills and, in one case, a purse with Hawkins High School pins.

Inside, half a dozen cast members including Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Maya Hawke and Natalia Dyer walked a red carpet as the show’s unofficial anthem, Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) by Kate Bush, played. They were greeted by a chorus of shrieks from fans.

“I can’t believe it’s finally almost over,” said Matarazzo, 23, who plays the lovable goofball Dustin Henderson. “I haven’t really said goodbye to it yet.”

In the nearly 10 years since the show premiered in 2016, the cast members of the Netflix megahit have grown up not only on-screen but also in real life. They have traded chubby cheeks and toothy grins for deepened voices, 1.8m frames and, in McLaughlin’s case, chiselled abs.

Matarazzo said the cast planned to gather in a theatre the following evening to watch the final episode, which will arrive on Netflix on New Year’s Eve. Most of them made it out on Thursday night, though a few, including Millie Bobby Brown, who plays telepathic teen Eleven; and David Harbour, who plays her surrogate father, the town police chief, Jim Hopper, were absent.

“It’s bittersweet,” said Charlie Heaton, 31, who plays Jonathan Byers, a talented photographer and protective older brother.

Set in 1980s Hawkins, Indiana, the show tells the story of a small town troubled by ominous, otherworldly activity. The first episodes of the fifth season drew nearly 60 million views in their first five days on Netflix in November. The show also spawned a stage play, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, a prequel adventure that opened on Broadway in 2025.

The series is beloved not only for its cross-generational appeal, but also for its nostalgic evocations of 1970s and 1980s pop culture. Among the shout-outs in Season 5: Madeleine L’Engle’s 1962 young-adult science fantasy novel A Wrinkle In Time, the 1985 comedy Spies Like Us and Peanut Butter Boppers.

So what would the cast members’ personal power-up bites be, their comfort-food equivalents of the Eggo waffles beloved by Eleven?

“This is so stupid and ‘actressy’, but probably a smoothie with pineapple, avocado, banana, almonds, chlorophyll and some protein powder,” said Hawke, 27, who plays the budding DJ Robin Buckley.

“A bodega bagel with scallion cream cheese,” Matarazzo said. “That has been my go-to of late. And it is probably not one I should have very consistently because that is an intense food on my stomach.”

As the cast prepared to enter the theatre for a sold-out panel discussion about the final season, the actors offered advice they would give their younger selves.

“Document things,” said Dyer, 30, who plays aspiring journalist Nancy Wheeler. “Remember as much as you can. It goes by so fast.”

Not everyone was so serious.

“That I don’t need to shampoo every day,” said Matarazzo, whose curly hair has become beloved by fans. “Because it got frizzy.” NYTIMES