Remember when the kids from Stranger Things were kids? It feels like two decades ago but also yesterday. Stranger Things casting director Carmen Cuba talked about the casting process from the very beginning of the series in a video released on Vanity Fair’s YouTube channel, which includes footage of audition tapes from stars including Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, and Caleb McLaughlin, who look even younger in the audition process than they did in the first season, which dropped on Netflix in 2016.
Cuba said that while part of her process includes “street casting,” which is basically finding kids and asking their parents if they want to act, it was essential that the child actors on Stranger Things have previous acting experience, so she sought out actors from all different backgrounds including theater, like Caleb McLaughlin who plays Lucas.
Cuba recalls that Millie Bobby Brown’s audition was memorable because although she is British, she spoke in an American accent throughout the entire process, even when she was not performing scenes. According to Cuba, Gaten Matarazzo, who plays Dustin, was the first actor who created a character beyond what was written. “You couldn’t have predicted or sought out someone like Gaten, so he was an excellent surprise. What he brought to the character was not what we imagined and it also made us realize we didn’t have any idea what it could be until we met him.”
Cuba said that once the kids got together, the dynamic worked both on-screen and off-screen. “They weren’t competitive, they were really supportive and enthusiastic,” she said.
But don’t worry: Cuba also talked about casting the adults. “When I first read the script, I definitely felt a pull toward Winona [Ryder],” she said. Ryder did not audition for the role, but talked to series creators (the Duffer Brothers) about the role of Joyce Byers. Cuba said that David Harbour, who plays Jim Hopper, is an actor she’d been watching for years. “For me, as much as I love the famous person he’s always in a scene opposite, I always found myself looking at him, watching his performance.” She hoped to one day cast him in a role where he would be the famous person in the scene, and she definitely did that because that man is very famous now.
(Via Vanity Fair)
