How old the Stranger Things actors are: at the shoot of each season and today
Actors · The ages · Seasons 1 to 5
The group was between ten and thirteen at the filming of season 1, in 2015, and between twenty and twenty-three at the end of season 5 filming, in 2024. Their characters, for their part, only aged four years. Here is the real age of each actor, season by season, against that of their role.
The essentials
- The youngest of Season 1: Noah Schnapp, ten at filming
- The biggest gap: Season 4: fifteen-year-old high-schoolers played by actors of twenty
- The adults: Winona Ryder and David Harbour were 43 and 40 in 2015
- Today: the party is between 21 and 24
Contents
How old the kids in the group are, season by season
| Actor | Season 1 (2015) | Season 2 (2016-17) | Season 3 (2018) | Season 4 (2021) | Season 5 (2024) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven) | 11-12 | 12-13 | 14 | 17 | 20 |
| Finn Wolfhard (Mike) | 12-13 | 13-14 | 15 | 18 | 21 |
| Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin) | 13 | 14 | 16 | 19 | 22 |
| Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas) | 13-14 | 15 | 16-17 | 19-20 | 22-23 |
| Noah Schnapp (Will) | 10-11 | 12 | 13-14 | 16-17 | 19-20 |
| Sadie Sink (Max) | — | 14-15 | 16 | 19 | 22 |
| Priah Ferguson (Erica) | — | 10 | 12 | 14-15 | 17-18 |
The filming dates explain the gaps: season 1 was shot in late 2015, season 2 in 2016-2017, season 3 in 2018, season 4 between 2020 and 2021, with an interruption due to the pandemic, and season 5 from January to December 2024. Between season 3 and season 4, the actors aged three years, their characters eight months.
The group's T-shirt, at any age.
In the shopKids' black crossed bats T-shirt24,90 €See the product
How old the characters are
| Character | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16-17 |
| Max | — | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16-17 |
| Erica | — | 9-10 | 10 | 11-12 | 13 |
| Nancy, Jonathan, Steve | 16-17 | 17-18 | 18-19 | 19-20 | 21 |
| Robin | — | — | 17-18 | 18-19 | 20 |
The show follows its characters from sixth grade to senior year, roughly. The most visible gap is Season 4's: Mike, Will, and Eleven are supposed to be fifteen, played by actors of seventeen to twenty. The eighteen-month jump before Season 5 was chosen in part to shrink that distance.
The high-schoolers and the adults
| Actor | Age in 2015 | Age in 2024 | Character in 1983 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natalia Dyer (Nancy) | 20 | 29 | 16 |
| Charlie Heaton (Jonathan) | 21 | 30 | 17 |
| Joe Keery (Steve) | 23 | 32 | 17 |
| Maya Hawke (Robin) | — | 26 | — (18 in 1985) |
| Winona Ryder (Joyce) | 43 | 52 | About forty years |
| David Harbour (Hopper) | 40 | 49 | About forty years |
| Joseph Quinn (Eddie) | — | — | 20 in 1986, played at 27 |
The high-schoolers have always been played by adults, as in most American shows: Joe Keery was twenty-three for a Steve of seventeen. It is the reverse for the children, whose real age almost matched the role in Season 1, which made the charm of the first season.
The child-labor ruleU.S. labor law limits minors' shooting hours and requires school hours on set. That is one reason for the long gaps between seasons in the early years.
And today
In 2026, Millie Bobby Brown is twenty-two, Finn Wolfhard twenty-three, Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin twenty-four, Noah Schnapp twenty-one, Sadie Sink twenty-four, Priah Ferguson nineteen. The “children” of Hawkins now have the age of the high schoolers they watched from a distance in 1983.
The figure of the character you watched grow up.
In the shopLego gray open-flower Demogorgon mini figure14,90 €See the product
How the show handled aging
Each season answered the problem differently. Season 2, filmed a year after the first, simply set the action a year later, in 1984: actors and characters had aged at the same pace. Season 3, filmed in 2018 for a summer of 1985, started to cheat: the children had taken two and a half years for eight months of fiction, which the scripts turned into a subject, with Mike and Eleven kissing and Dustin changing.
Season 4 is the season of all the gaps. The shoot, planned for 2020, was interrupted for six months by the pandemic; the actors were seventeen to twenty playing high-schoolers of fifteen in 1986. The Duffers acknowledged it and drew a consequence: Season 5 jumps nineteen months, to November 1987, so the characters catch up a little with their performers, and the show stops, because “the actors could not play teenagers indefinitely.”
The last chapter follows the logic all the way: its epilogue takes place in the spring of 1989, with eighteen-year-old characters played by actors of twenty to twenty-three. For the first time in ten years, the gap almost disappears.
When they had to de-age
Twice, the show needed its children younger than they were. In season 4, for the 1979 lab scenes, Eleven was played by a body double, Martie Blair, onto whom Millie Bobby Brown's face was applied digitally. In season 5, for the 1983 prologue, it is Luke Kokotek, eleven, who played Will, with Noah Schnapp's face put on by the studio Wētā FX.
Noah Schnapp has said he asked Millie Bobby Brown for advice on how to direct, in a way, his own double. It is the paradox of a show that grew its actors on screen: when it wanted to go back to the beginning, it had to manufacture children.
The birth dates, to check for yourself
| Actor | Birth | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Millie Bobby Brown | February 19, 2004 | Eleven |
| Finn Wolfhard | December 23, 2002 | Mike |
| Gaten Matarazzo | September 8, 2002 | Dustin |
| Caleb McLaughlin | October 13, 2001 | Lucas |
| Noah Schnapp | October 3, 2004 | Will |
| Sadie Sink | April 16, 2002 | Max |
| Priah Ferguson | October 1, 2006 | Erica |
| Natalia Dyer | January 13, 1995 | Nancy |
| Charlie Heaton | February 6, 1994 | Jonathan |
| Joe Keery | April 24, 1992 | Steve |
| Maya Hawke | July 8, 1998 | Robin |
| Winona Ryder | October 29, 1971 | Joyce |
| David Harbour | April 10, 1975 | Hopper |
| Joseph Quinn | January 26, 1994 | Eddie |
| Jamie Campbell Bower | November 22, 1988 | Henry / Vecna |
The kids' T-shirt, for those who are the age of Season 1.
In the shopKids' My Little Demodog hoodie61,90 €See the product
TakeawayThe party was between 10 and 13 in 2015, between 20 and 23 in 2024. The characters themselves go from 12 to 16-17 between 1983 and 1987. The biggest gap is in Season 4; the 18-month jump before Season 5 reduces it. The high-schoolers have always been played by adult actors.
Frequently asked questions
How old was Millie Bobby Brown in Season 1?
Eleven years old at the casting, twelve at filming, in 2015. She was twenty at the end of season 5 filming.
How old are the characters in season 5?
The group is sixteen or seventeen in 1987; Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve, about twenty-one.
Why do the actors look older than their roles?
Because three real years separated season 3 from season 4, for eight months in the story. The eighteen-month jump before season 5 reduces the gap.
Who is the youngest actor on the show?
Noah Schnapp, born in October 2004, in the party; Nell Fisher, born in 2011, in the season 5 cast.
Why is season 5 set nineteen months after season 4?
In part to reduce the gap between the actors, who had aged three years during the pandemic, and their characters. The 1989 epilogue finishes closing it.
Who played young Eleven and young Will?
Martie Blair for Eleven in season 4 and Luke Kokotek for Will in season 5, with the adult actors' faces applied digitally.
How old is Holly Wheeler and her actress?
Holly is about eight in 1987. Nell Fisher, who takes over the role from twins Anniston and Tinsley Price, was born in 2011 in New Zealand and was twelve or thirteen during filming.