Just Kids

For the tight-knit child stars of Stranger Things, instant stardom hasn’t changed a thing. Almost.

- Jen Chaney

SINCE STRANGER THINGS debuted in 2016, the core tween-and-teen members of the cast have handed out peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches during a live Emmys telecast; celebrated ecstatically on national television when they won the Screen Actors Guild Award for best TV drama ensemble; met President Obama, who, according to actress Millie Bobby Brown, told them they were “cool”; appeared before thousands of screaming fans at Comic-Con; been celebrated on social media every time one or more of them does virtually anything semi-adorable; and seen their series get nominated this year for a slew of Emmys, including one for Brown’s performance as the telekinetically powerful Eleven. (The Stranger Things kids will not be on Emmy PB&J duty this year, America.)

Ask the members of this gang of six—that would be Brown, 13; Finn Wolfhard, 14; Gaten Matarazzo, 14; Caleb McLaughlin, 15; Noah Schnapp, 12; and now Sadie Sink, 15, who joins the cast in the forthcoming second season as a skater girl named Max—what feels most different about their lives now versus a year ago, and they’ll mention how often they get recognized in public or how many new followers they’ve gained on Instagram. But otherwise, they insist their day-to-day is mostly the same.