Not to get all BuzzFeed list on you, but who you’d pick as your favorite character on Stranger Things, Netflix’s super-popular supernatural series, says a lot about you. If you’re Team Barb, you’re the outsider with an impeccable fashion sense; if you’re Team Mr. Clarke, you put science above everything (even the attractive woman in your living room); if you’re Team Jonathan, you probably really liked American Beauty in high school.
But c’mon, everyone should have the same favorite character on Stranger Things: Dustin. “Toothless” is a genuine Dungeons & Dragons-playing dork (I use that term affectionally) who loves pudding and his friends, in that order. Even co-creator Matt Duffer recognizes Dustin (played by Gaten Matarazzo, who’s only other IMDb credit is one episode of The Blacklist) as the best:
“What’s so cool about television, we had cast all the kids, and we only had one script written at that point. I think Dustin was a much more cliché character. He was just the nerd. He didn’t have that much interesting personality. We talked a lot: we don’t quite understand him as a character. The minute we saw Gaten’s tape, we knew he would be in the show as Dustin. The disease we say he has in the show, he has in real life: he has no collarbone and no front teeth. He’s very much the person that you see in the show.” (Via hitfix.com)
Duffer will get all BuzzFeed list on you.
“There’s some BuzzFeed quiz where they see what character you get, and Gaten got Dustin. I was so happy that worked out that way. We basically wrote it for Gaten, and so much of the credit for the character goes entirely to Gaten. All the love that he’s getting, he deserves. He’s an amazing kid. He’s very very funny. The hardest thing about shooting with the kids is that Gaten made them laugh so much, sometimes it was hard to get the scene down without someone breaking out with laughter. He’s just a funny funny kid. His comic timing is impeccable. I think he’s so special.” (Via hitfix.com)
Here’s another reason why The Goonies 2 doesn’t need to exist: Dustin is our Chunk. (Besides, Chunk never wore a sweet hat.) Check out the rest of Alan Sepinwall’s interview with the Duffer Brothers here.
(Via HitFix)
