Stranger Things Cast: Every Actor & Character

Nine years, five seasons and one Hawkins-sized send-off later, the Stranger Things cast has grown from a dozen unknown kids and two 1980s movie stars into one of the most recognisable ensembles on television. This rundown pairs every actor with their character, tracks where you have seen them since, and tells you where the series streams today.

Key Takeaways
– The core Stranger Things cast is led by Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, David Harbour and Winona Ryder.
– Season 5 added Linda Hamilton as Dr. Kay and recast Holly Wheeler with Evil Dead Rise’s Nell Fisher.
– All five seasons stream exclusively on Netflix, with the final season released in three drops between November 26 and December 31, 2025.
– Since the 2016 debut, cast members have landed Marvel, Godzilla, Gladiator and Pixar roles and Broadway runs.

Stranger Things Cast List: Actor to Character

Use this as your cheat sheet. Main cast appears first, followed by key recurring and season-specific players.

The Kids Who Became the Show

The Duffer brothers reportedly saw more than 900 boys and 300 girls before locking in the original party. Casting director Carmen Cuba picked up an Emmy for that work in 2017, and you can see why.

Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven

Brown was 12 when season 1 arrived in July 2016, and her near-silent, buzz-cut performance earned Emmy nominations in 2017 and 2018. She has since become Netflix’s in-house franchise lead, headlining Enola Holmes (2020) and its 2022 sequel, Damsel (2024) and The Electric State (2025), with a third Enola Holmes film already shot. Outside the streamer, she fronted Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) and Godzilla vs. Kong (2021).

Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler

Wolfhard sent in a self-taped audition from Vancouver and landed the show’s de facto narrator. He went straight from Hawkins into Derry, playing Richie Tozier in It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019), then joined the Spengler family in Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024). He also co-wrote and co-directed the slasher comedy Hell of a Summer, released by Neon in 2025, and records music as The Aubreys.

Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson

Matarazzo had already played Gavroche in Les Misérables on Broadway before Dustin’s toothless grin made him a fan favourite. His cleidocranial dysplasia was written into the character, and he has used the platform to raise awareness of the condition. Between seasons he returned to Broadway as Jared in Dear Evan Hansen (2022) and Tobias in the 2023 revival of Sweeney Todd, and hosted the Netflix prank series Prank Encounters.

Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair

Another Broadway kid, McLaughlin played Young Simba in The Lion King before joining the party. His film work includes Netflix’s Concrete Cowboy (2021) opposite Idris Elba and Shooting Stars (2023), the Peacock drama about LeBron James’s high school team. Lucas’s arc from sceptic to varsity athlete to Max’s devoted protector gave him some of season 4’s heaviest material.

Noah Schnapp as Will Byers

Schnapp voiced Charlie Brown in The Peanuts Movie (2015) and appeared in Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies the same year, so he was arguably the most experienced child actor in the original cast. He has since appeared in Adam Sandler’s Hubie Halloween (2020) and the thriller The Tutor (2023), co-founded the TBH hazelnut spread brand, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2025 while shooting the final season.

Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield

Sink joined in season 2 and, by season 4, owned the show’s signature scene: Max’s levitating escape from Vecna, soundtracked by Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.” Her résumé since is the most prestige-heavy of the younger cast. She played Ellie in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale (2022), appeared in Netflix’s Fear Street Part 2: 1978 (2021), starred in Taylor Swift’s All Too Well: The Short Film, and starred in John Proctor Is the Villain on Broadway. Next up: Spider-Man: Brand New Day, due in July 2026.

Priah Ferguson as Erica Sinclair

Ferguson first appeared as Lucas’s sharp-tongued little sister in season 2 and was promoted to series regular for season 4. She also led the Netflix family horror-comedy The Curse of Bridge Hollow (2022) alongside Marlon Wayans.

The Adults: Hopper, Joyce and the Grown-Ups of Hawkins

David Harbour as Jim Hopper

Harbour was a working character actor with credits in Brokeback Mountain and The Newsroom when Hopper turned him into a leading man. He won the Critics’ Choice Award in 2018 and collected a SAG Award for his performance, then took the title role in Hellboy (2019). Marvel came calling next: he plays Alexei Shostakov, the Red Guardian, in Black Widow (2021) and Thunderbolts* (2025). You may also know him as the Santa Claus who fights mercenaries in Violent Night (2022) or as Jack Salter in Gran Turismo (2023).

Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers

Ryder was the show’s first big-name hire and its link to the decade it recreates. Her 1980s and 1990s run includes Beetlejuice (1988), Heathers (1989), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Little Women (1994) and Girl, Interrupted (1999). She returned as Lydia Deetz in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in September 2024, which became one of the biggest legacy sequels of that year.

Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton as Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers

Dyer and Heaton, a couple off screen as well as on, have mostly chosen indie projects between seasons. Dyer led the coming-of-age comedy Yes, God, Yes (2019) and appeared in Netflix’s Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) and Things Heard & Seen (2021). Heaton played Sam Guthrie in Marvel’s long-delayed The New Mutants (2020) and starred in the Spanish gothic thriller Marrowbone (2017).

Joe Keery as Steve Harrington

Keery was cast in a part the writers planned to kill off, and Steve’s redemption from preppy antagonist to babysitter-in-chief became the show’s most beloved pivot. Keery has since starred in Free Guy (2021), the social-media satire Spree (2020) and season 5 of FX’s Fargo (2023), where his turn as Gator Tillman drew Emmy buzz. Under his musical alias Djo, his 2022 track “End of Beginning” went viral on TikTok in early 2024 and climbed into the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100; the follow-up album The Crux landed in April 2025.

Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley

The daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman arrived in season 3 and immediately gave Steve a sparring partner. Her film choices have been eclectic: Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), Netflix’s Do Revenge (2022), Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City (2023), Bradley Cooper’s Maestro (2023) and, most lucratively, the voice of Anxiety in Pixar’s Inside Out 2 (2024), which grossed over $1.6 billion worldwide. She also released her third album, Chaos Angel, in 2024.

Brett Gelman as Murray Bauman

Gelman’s conspiracy-theorist journalist started as a season 2 guest and became a regular by season 4. Comedy fans know him as Martin, the uncomfortable brother-in-law in Fleabag, and from Netflix’s Love.

Matthew Modine and Paul Reiser as the Government Scientists

Modine, forever Private Joker from Full Metal Jacket (1987), plays the chilling Dr. Brenner, “Papa” to Eleven; he reappeared in Oppenheimer (2023). Reiser, the Mad About You star and Aliens (1986) corporate villain, plays the far more sympathetic Dr. Sam Owens from season 2 onward. Casting Reiser was a deliberate nod: the Duffers wanted the audience to distrust him because of Aliens, then subvert it.

Cara Buono and Joe Chrest as the Wheeler Parents

Buono (Mad Men, The Sopranos) and Chrest (a Louisiana-based character actor with over 150 credits) have anchored the Wheeler household since the pilot. Chrest’s Ted, perpetually asleep in a recliner, became a meme in his own right.

Fan Favourites Who Came and Went

Hawkins has a body count, and several of the most memorable Stranger Things cast members were only around for a season.

• Shannon Purser (Barb, season 1) got an Emmy nomination for roughly 15 minutes of screen time and a “Justice for Barb” movement. She went on to Riverdale and the Netflix rom-com Sierra Burgess Is a Loser (2018).
• Sean Astin (Bob Newby, season 2) brought Goonies and Samwise Gamgee goodwill to the role of Joyce’s doomed boyfriend. In September 2025 he was elected president of SAG-AFTRA.
• Dacre Montgomery (Billy Hargrove, seasons 2 to 3) played the Red Ranger in Power Rangers (2017) before becoming the Mind Flayer’s host. He later starred in The Broken Hearts Gallery (2020).
• Joseph Quinn (Eddie Munson, season 4) turned one season into a Hollywood career: A Quiet Place: Day One (2024), Emperor Geta in Gladiator II (2024), Alex Garland’s Warfare (2025) and Johnny Storm in The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025).
• Eduardo Franco (Argyle, season 4) came from Booksmart and American Vandal and provided the pizza-van comic relief.
• Robert Englund (Victor Creel, season 4) is Freddy Krueger himself, cast in a season built around Nightmare on Elm Street homage.
• Tom Wlaschiha (Enzo, season 4) was Jaqen H’ghar in Game of Thrones, and his Russian prison storyline with Hopper reunited two of HBO’s and Netflix’s most quotable character actors.
• Cary Elwes (Mayor Kline, season 3) will always be Westley from The Princess Bride, which made his sleazy mayor more fun to boo.
• Linnea Berthelsen (Kali, season 2) played Eleven’s “sister,” Eight, in the polarising Chicago episode.

Jamie Campbell Bower: The Villain Who Changed the Show

Vecna arrived in season 4 as the series’ first true face-to-face antagonist, and Bower played him under seven-plus hours of prosthetics per shooting day, designed by Barrie Gower’s team (the people behind the Night King). You may remember Bower from Sweeney Todd (2007), as Caius in the Twilight films, as young Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, and as Jace in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013). He returns for season 5 as the final threat to Hawkins.

A footnote for stage fans: in Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the prequel play that opened in London in December 2023 and on Broadway in April 2025, Louis McCartney plays the teenage Henry Creel.

New Faces in Season 5

The final season is set in the autumn of 1987, roughly 18 months after the Hawkins earthquake, and it brought in a handful of significant new names.

Linda Hamilton plays Dr. Kay, a figure tied to the military operation now occupying the town. Hamilton’s casting is pure 1980s shorthand; she is Sarah Connor from The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), and she returned to the role in Terminator: Dark Fate (2019). Netflix announced her at Tudum in June 2023 before scripts were public.

Nell Fisher takes over as Holly Wheeler, Mike and Nancy’s youngest sibling, previously played in minor scenes by twins Anniston and Tinsley Price. The recast was a tell: Holly’s role was being expanded, and Fisher, the breakout kid from Evil Dead Rise (2023), was hired to carry it.

Jake Connelly plays Derek Turnbow, a new Hawkins child whose surname appears in the title of the third episode, “The Turnbow Trap.” Alex Breaux plays Lt. Akers, a military officer in the government’s now-permanent presence in town.

Amybeth McNulty, Anne Shirley in Netflix’s Anne with an E, returns as Vickie, Robin’s crush from season 4, now with a larger role.

Behind the camera, season 5 recruited two notable guest directors: Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Mist) and Dan Trachtenberg (Prey, 10 Cloverfield Lane), alongside the Duffers and executive producer Shawn Levy.

Where to Watch Stranger Things Now

Every episode of Stranger Things streams exclusively on Netflix worldwide; the show is a Netflix original, so you will not find it on Hulu, Max, Prime Video or Disney+. That is 42 episodes in total: eight each in seasons 1, 3, 4 and 5, plus nine in season 2.

Season 5 was released in three parts, all at 5 p.m. Pacific:

Netflix also broke its own no-theatres rule for the finale, screening “The Rightside Up” in more than 350 cinemas across the United States and Canada from December 31 through New Year’s Day, the first time a Netflix series episode has had a theatrical run.

If you want more Hawkins after the finale, two spin-offs are on the schedule. The animated series Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, set between seasons 2 and 3, is due on Netflix in 2026, and a live-action spin-off from the Duffers remains in development. The First Shadow continues on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre.

The Numbers Behind the Ensemble

A few figures put the Stranger Things cast’s rise in perspective. The show’s ensemble won the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2017, beating Game of Thrones and The Crown. Season 4 logged more than 1.35 billion hours viewed in its first 28 days, making it the most-watched English-language season in Netflix history until Wednesday overtook it. And the child actors, who reportedly earned around $20,000 per episode in season 1, were by season 3 reported to be making $250,000 per episode, with Brown breaking into her own pay bracket by then and reportedly closer to $300,000 by season 4.

Nobody in that cast table is an unknown anymore. That is the real legacy of a show that launched with two name actors and a pile of self-tapes.

FAQ

Who are the main actors in the Stranger Things cast?

The core group is Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas), Noah Schnapp (Will), Sadie Sink (Max), David Harbour (Hopper), Winona Ryder (Joyce), Natalia Dyer (Nancy), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan), Joe Keery (Steve) and Maya Hawke (Robin).

Who plays Vecna in Stranger Things?

Jamie Campbell Bower plays Vecna, also known as Henry Creel and One. You may know him from Twilight, Sweeney Todd and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. He returns as the main villain in season 5.

Is Linda Hamilton in Stranger Things?

Yes. The Terminator star joined the cast for season 5 as Dr. Kay, a character connected to the military presence in Hawkins. Her casting was announced at Netflix’s Tudum event in June 2023.

Who was recast in Stranger Things season 5?

Holly Wheeler, the youngest Wheeler child, was recast with Nell Fisher from Evil Dead Rise. Twins Anniston and Tinsley Price played Holly in earlier seasons when the part was little more than background.

Where can I watch Stranger Things?

All five seasons stream exclusively on Netflix. The final season arrived in three drops on November 26, December 25 and December 31, 2025, and the finale also played in over 350 North American cinemas on New Year’s Eve.

Which Stranger Things actors have been in Marvel movies?

Several. David Harbour plays Red Guardian in Black Widow and Thunderbolts*, Joseph Quinn is Johnny Storm in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Charlie Heaton appeared in The New Mutants, and Sadie Sink has a role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, due in 2026.