Sadie Sink: the actress who plays Max Mayfield, from season 2 to Running Up That Hill
Actresses · Sadie Sink · Max Mayfield
Sadie Sink arrives in the show in season 2, at fifteen, in the role of Max, the California skater. Three seasons later, a four-minute scene in a cemetery makes her the most discussed actress of the year, and cinema follows. Portrait.
The essentials
- Born: April 16, 2002, Brenham, Texas
- Role: Max Mayfield, seasons 2 to 5
- Before: Annie on Broadway, at eleven
- Since: The Whale, Fear Street, Taylor Swift's All Too Well, Broadway
Contents
Sadie Sink, a Broadway kid
Sadie Sink grows up in Texas and takes the stage at seven in an amateur theater in Brenham, plays Annie in Houston at ten, then the title role on Broadway, then young Elizabeth II in The Audience alongside Helen Mirren. Television follows: a role in American Odyssey, an episode of Blue Bloods, the film The Glass Castle with Brie Larson.
She auditions for season 2 in 2016. The character of Max, a newcomer on a skateboard, is meant to bring new blood to a group of boys; production hesitates about her age, a little high, before keeping her.
Max's T-shirt, Walkman included.
In the shopWomen's Max's Mixtape T-shirt39,90 €See the product
Max Mayfield, the skater who lost everything
Max arrives in Hawkins with a skateboard, a violent half-brother, and a reputation as an arcade champion. Sadie Sink gives her a hardness on the surface and a constant fear, and the character grows each season: Billy's death in season 3, the guilt, the isolation, and season 4, where Vecna chooses her as a victim.
The Running Up That Hill scene, at the cemetery, where Max escapes the trance by running toward her friends, is shot over several days of filming; the actress said she ran to exhaustion. The season finale, where Max dies for a minute before being brought back, earns her unanimous reviews.
The roller lieAt the audition, Sadie Sink said she could roller-skate, which was false. First judged too old, she got four callbacks, including a read with Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin, then had to learn skateboarding: three hours a day for two months, after a fall on day one.
The Whale, Fear Street, Taylor Swift
| Year | Project | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Fear Street (trilogy) | Ziggy Berman, the survivor of the 1978 game |
| 2021 | All Too Well: The Short Film (Taylor Swift) | The young woman of the couple, opposite Dylan O'Brien |
| 2022 | The Whale (Darren Aronofsky) | Ellie, Brendan Fraser's daughter |
| 2025 | John Proctor Is the Villain (Broadway) | Shelby, Tony Awards nomination |
The Whale reveals her in arthouse cinema: opposite Brendan Fraser, Oscar-winner for the role, she plays an angry teenager with an intensity that earns her nominations. Taylor Swift's short film, seen hundreds of millions of times, makes her known to another audience. And her return to Broadway in 2025, in John Proctor Is the Villain, earns her a Tony Awards nomination.
Max in season 5
Max enters the last season in a coma, her mind a prisoner of Vecna's mental world. Sadie Sink plays a Max who has nothing left but her will, alongside Holly Wheeler, and the show gives her a return to life that closes three seasons of grief. For the actress, it is the last chapter of a role held from fourteen to twenty-two.
The Max figure, skateboard under her arm.
In the shopLego Max Mayfield mini figure on a skateboard14,90 €See the product
What you know less about her
Sadie Sink was born in Brenham, Texas, in a family of five children oriented toward sports; it was with her brother Mitchell that she discovered musical theater, by putting on shows at home and watching the Tony Awards ceremonies. In 2012, when both started landing professional roles, the family moved to New York to follow them. She alternated homeschool, distance classes and public high school, and finished her last two years remotely.
Her first appearance on television dates from 2013, in an episode of The Americans, while she was playing Annie on Broadway; her first film, Chuck, in 2016, the year of her audition for Max. She has said that the pace of eight Annie performances a week gave her her actor's discipline, and that working with Helen Mirren in The Audience changed her way of seeing the job.
Max in 1987: prisoner, then anchor
The last season gives Max an unexpected role: she spends five episodes in a coma, but her mind is active in Henry's memories, where she has been wandering since her one-minute death at the cemetery. She almost came back hearing Lucas play her song at the hospital, before Henry caught her; she found the cave where he cannot follow her. When Holly arrives, Max becomes her guide: they explore the forbidden memories, the mine, the briefcase, and each escapes through her own gate.
Max wakes in Lucas's arms in episode 7 and tells him he was her anchor. She then stays in the background, at the radio station with Vickie, captured by Dr. Kay's men in the finale, then present at the D&D table of the epilogue. Sadie Sink had been told by the Duffers, even before reading the finale of season 4, that she would come back "obviously," without knowing how.
Five Max scenes to rewatch
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The Palace Arcade, 1984
"Mad Max" beats Dustin's Dig Dug record: the first appearance, from behind, headphones on.
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The syringe, 1984
Max plants a sedative in Billy's neck and threatens him with the nail-studded bat: the end of the fear.
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The beach, 1985
She sees Billy die at Starcourt, and she is the one who stays with him on the ground.
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The cemetery, 1986
The letter to Billy, Vecna's trance, and “Running Up That Hill” to run toward her friends.
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The waking, 1987
In Lucas's arms: “you were my anchor.”
The Walkman keychain, for the emergency playlist.
In the shopMax and her Walkman pin12,90 €See the product
TakeawaySadie Sink was born in 2002 in Texas and started on Broadway in Annie. She plays Max from Season 2 to Season 5, from fifteen to twenty-three. The Running Up That Hill scene made her the most talked-about actress of 2022. On film: Fear Street, The Whale; on stage: a Tony Award nomination in 2025.
Frequently asked questions
Who plays Max in Stranger Things?
Sadie Sink, American actress born in 2002 in Texas, present from season 2 to season 5.
How old is Sadie Sink?
She was born on April 16, 2002. She was fifteen at the release of season 2 and twenty-three at the end of the show.
In which films does Sadie Sink act?
Fear Street, The Whale, The Glass Castle, Dear Zoe, and Taylor Swift's short film All Too Well. She has also acted on Broadway in Annie and John Proctor Is the Villain.
Does Max die in the show?
She dies for a few moments at the end of season 4 before being brought back by Eleven, and stays in a coma until season 5, which settles her fate.
Could Sadie Sink skateboard before the show?
No. She claimed at the audition that she could roller-skate, which was false, and had to learn to skate three hours a day for two months after getting the role.
What is Sadie Sink's first film?
Chuck, in 2016, a sports drama in which she plays Kimberly Wepner, the same year as her audition for Max.
Was Sadie Sink nominated for the Tony Awards?
Yes, in 2025, for her role as Shelby in John Proctor Is the Villain on Broadway, her return to the stage after Annie and The Audience.
How old was Sadie Sink at her audition for Max?
Fourteen, in September 2016. The casting directors found her too old; she got four callbacks and the role.