Natalia Dyer Is No Stranger

This Nashville native never expected to be wrapped up in the whirlwind popularity of STRANGER THINGS. But as the Netflix sci-fi horror series boomed, the actress also began to find her footing in both her character and her craft

- Chelsea Tang

Natalia Dyer almost didn't turn up for the audition of Stranger Things. What would the show have been like without the doe-eyed, big sister Dyer? Hard to imagine certainly. After all, as the Netflix sci-fi horror series nears the end of its marathon run, with season five being announced as its last rodeo with the Upside Down, it's safe to say that viewers have formed an emotional attachment to Dyer's character - the plucky yet righteous Nancy Wheeler.

Filming for season one of Stranger Things commenced on November 2016. Dyer was 20 years old then. In the not-so-distant past before that pivotal day, she was still an second-year undergraduate at New York University (NYU), studying at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Like every other college millennial, she too was figuring out what she wanted to be, and do, for the rest of her life. Her time was shared between going for classes and casting calls in the city, but the latter, at that point in time, didn't seem to be getting her anywhere. I couldn't give you a number [for the auditions I did], but it was enough frustration that I almost blew off the audition for Stranger Things, she recounts.

Intrigued by the 1980s setting coupled with the idea of the paranormal and supernatural, Dyer did eventually (and thankfully) turn up for the in-room audition, responding to the brief of a sister-type character. Afterwards, I thought I completely trashed it, she adds. Which is why, when she did receive the call notifying her that she had won the role of Nancy Wheeler, Dyer was thrilled.

I was beyond excited. I'd been watching a few great shows from Netflix, but it feels unreal to be a part of it all, she says. I do think a part : of me thought this would change my life – in the sense where I had to take a break from college at the very least - but I really had no concept of how well the show would do.