- 11 minutes ago
'Stranger Things' stars Caleb McLaughlin and Gaten Matarazzo talk with Audacy hosts Megan Holiday, Julia Leipidi, and Johnny Mingione about Season 5 on Netflix.
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00:00Hi guys. Hi. I'm Julia from Alt 98.7 in Detroit. Hi, how are you? Good. How are you? I'm living. How are you? I'm very well. How are you? Good. Well, huge fan of the show. Thank you. So excited for season five. And, you know, aside from what it means for your characters, as fans of the show, how did you feel about the ending?
00:19We were always stoked. It's always something that you anticipate. I mean, even from the very beginning of the show, we were always curious as to how it would end, especially after we got picked up for season two. We just knew that they were going to keep trying to make more. We didn't quite know how they were going to wrap it up. So it's something you think about for, I guess, a decade. And we were super stoked once it came around and it was a really good way to finish up. Because we didn't get to read it until about two months before we finished, three months before we finished filming.
00:48Yeah. So we didn't know throughout the whole process of filming that last one. Oh, wow. Yeah. Awesome. It was nice. It was cool. We were really excited about it. Yeah, really excited. I mean, I agree with him. I feel like we're on the same boat in that way and that feeling. And just grateful for the, you know, the experience and kind of all the moments leading up to it. Yeah. How close did it match to what you had in your head? Oh, that's a good question. Honestly, I didn't really have a thought. I mean, I had a thought about like, okay, how it was going to end. But I,
01:18knowing the Duffers, it was not going to be anything I thought about. Yeah. You're like, I'm not even going to try to go down that road. Yeah. So I approached it kind of expecting the best, honestly. But nothing. I'm like, I never really have. Yeah, honestly. Yeah.
01:34What they're really good about is kind of building upon like the lore that they've already established, which has grown, I think, quite a bit more so than most shows have the ability to do in the span of just four seasons.
01:48It kind of goes from like this great unknown in the first season to pretty much a fully fledged villain arc by the end of the fourth and then going into the fifth.
01:59So we knew it was going to, they were going to really try to jump in head first in that department. So it's cool to see what they developed there.
02:08Yeah.
02:08I mean, really, when you're thinking about the way it ends, it's hard not to like think selfishly about it and be like, what's going to happen to me?
02:15That's so real. That's so real.
02:18That kind of best way.
02:20I'm Johnny. I'm from 1027 in New York City. He's such a huge fan. You guys, I mean, you've been doing this 10 years together, right? 11?
02:31Yeah.
02:32Crazy.
02:33About, yeah, about just about a decade.
02:35It was June of 2015 when we all booked.
02:38See, you really like you. You grew up together.
02:40Yeah, literally.
02:41I'm curious, what is one major similarity and one major difference between you versus your character?
02:47That's a fun question.
02:48I don't know.
02:50Lucas, no.
02:52What difference between what characters?
02:54You know, this is a great question, and I think about this all the time.
02:58I feel like in the beginning it's always, okay, now I'm becoming this character.
03:02But in my development process of who I, as a kid, you're still learning yourself.
03:07And then I had to learn Lucas at the same time, so they kind of merged in a way.
03:12But, of course, I mean, I'm not in the 80s and, like, you know, the upside-down element.
03:19I'm sure you've learned a lot of 80s.
03:20Yeah, yeah.
03:20I'm a track player, like someone your age who doesn't know what that is.
03:23Yeah.
03:23But the difference, I guess, just, like, he's just his own, like, person and spirit.
03:29I feel like I'm a little bit more open and, like, I'm a little bit more creative.
03:35I'm not much of a, like, I'm not into academics as much as Lucas is.
03:40As Lucas is.
03:40Yeah.
03:41Same.
03:44Yeah, I feel like our characters are really smart and, like, love science, love academics,
03:49and that's where they live.
03:50I'm a creator.
03:51I ground myself in the mornings.
03:55I, you know, meditate and, you know.
03:57Lucas wouldn't do that.
03:58Nah, nah.
03:59He doesn't seem like a meditating type.
04:00Nah, he's really into, like, combat and, like, you know, you can see from season one
04:04with the, like, Vietnam gear.
04:08Vietnam gear.
04:09Yeah, Vietnam gear, yeah.
04:10So, yeah, I'm not.
04:11Probably his dad's, right?
04:12Yeah, definitely.
04:13Like, dad or grandfather or something.
04:14Not grandfather.
04:15His dad's.
04:16Yeah.
04:16For sure.
04:16But it's, um, yeah.
04:19That's cool.
04:20Yeah.
04:20It's cool.
04:21Mm-hmm.
04:22Oh, man.
04:23That's a good question.
04:24I think, yeah, anytime I'm answering about, like, the biggest difference between us is I usually
04:28go to his academic prowess and how he's deaf.
04:31I'm playing somebody who is tremendously smarter than I am, which is fun to do.
04:37No problem.
04:37It's fun to do.
04:38Well, he got better grades than I did.
04:40Does he?
04:41That's for sure.
04:42What were your real GPAs versus your Catholic GPAs?
04:44Come on.
04:44Here's my thing.
04:45I think my GPA was fine.
04:46It's just I did, like, just kind of, like, easy classes.
04:51Like, my lesson courses that I took, I'm like, I'm going to get a great GPA doing just
04:55the dumbest school classes ever.
04:56They took extracurricular activities.
04:58Yeah, which is nice.
04:58History of art.
04:59I was not in honors classes, let's say.
05:01Yeah.
05:02I think I did well in those, though, for the most part.
05:05Was not in an A.V. club.
05:06Would never do that.
05:08Would never do that.
05:08Definitely a drama club kid, for sure.
05:10Yeah.
05:11I don't know.
05:12It's hard to say.
05:12I think something that we're quite similar, definitely don't know when to shut up.
05:18That's kind of similar.
05:19We hide behind our humor quite a bit, and I think a toxic trait that we both have is in situations
05:25where it might be best to shut up.
05:26We just have to have the last word, and that's a little bit annoying to recognize in the
05:32both of us, for sure.
05:33At least for me, it's something I recognize.
05:35I'm like, all right, that's, I see myself do that in the show.
05:38I'm like, oh, that kind of tracks.
05:40Don't you feel like we've kind of developed these characters as we've gotten older?
05:45I think so, too.
05:46We've become a part of, like, who we were as children.
05:48I agree.
05:49You know what I mean?
05:50Before I really knew who I was, I was, like, learning Lucas at the same time.
05:53Learning about Lucas.
05:53Wow.
05:54It's interesting.
05:54Well, Matt and Ross have always written that way.
05:56Every time a new season comes along, they see the way that we've grown.
05:59They update and check back in with us, and they've known us for a decade, too, so they
06:03write.
06:04They cater to our strengths, and they cater to what makes us comfortable, and what's going
06:08to kind of give a zip to each individual, I think, and they would be hard to do without
06:14writing based on the people that they know, so I think they probably can tell you what
06:20the similarities are more so than we could, because I'm sure they write around our similarities,
06:24but a big difference between us, I think, is probably, I don't know, I think, I like
06:29to think I'm a little nicer than he is.
06:32You are nice.
06:33You're a very, very great person.
06:35He's a bit of a shit.
06:35I'm sorry we can't tell that.
06:38That's so funny.
06:38He's funny, though.
06:39He's just, he's not, he's very brazen, and he's not very concerned with how people think
06:44about him, and he's not necessarily concerned with, I guess, saying things politely.
06:52He's okay with getting his point across without concern for how it may be received, and that's,
06:58you know, not something I necessarily try to do.
07:01And it's very funny, because watching it, you laugh at, like, your jokes and your comedic
07:06timing, and you forget, oh, he's actually, you know.
07:08He's gonna be, yeah, anybody said, anybody said, like, like, in season two, when you're
07:12talking to Ted, you're like, you know what?
07:13I'm being so disrespectful to a guy who's, like, housemate.
07:16Like, I've, like, eaten his food, and I've slept in his home before, and I'm just, like,
07:20the worst to him.
07:21It's so funny.
07:22It's funny, but if I ever did that growing up, I'd be like, he definitely feels like the friend
07:27that parents would be like, can you not?
07:28Not invite him, that is so funny.
07:31He is not, like, ah, dust is coming, ah, shit.
07:35That's very funny, he might be.
07:37Thank you guys for those great answers.
07:38Oh, thank you.
07:39Thank you for the great question.
07:41I'm Megan from K-Rock in Los Angeles, and Live 105 in San Francisco.
07:45So I have a question for each of you.
07:47So I noticed in this season, Lucas just feels very grounded, solid, shows up for his friends,
07:54sticks to whatever plan is going on.
07:57So how does, where is Lucas sort of at?
08:01Because there's so much chaos going on, so how does he stay kind of so solid?
08:06Yeah, I think he's experienced so much in the past, you know, a couple of seasons,
08:09and I feel like the life that we see on there has, like, brought him to where he is.
08:17I would say he's, like, more poised, he's like a soldier, and ready for, honestly, ready
08:21for combat.
08:22And where we left him off in season four was probably his most traumatic experience, and
08:27I feel like how he's, I mean, how he's dealing with it is, like, he feels a sense of regret
08:33and has ambition to go back and, like, defeat Vecna.
08:38I feel like that's his mission.
08:39And to do that, he has to stay calm.
08:42He has to stay poised.
08:43He has to keep his eye on the tiger.
08:47But, yeah.
08:48That's an 80s song, right?
08:49I'm cool.
08:50Oh, yeah.
08:51Yes, sir.
08:52Yeah.
08:52So, but, yeah.
08:53Yeah.
08:53And then for Dustin, I just feel like that's been one of the biggest character arcs of the
09:00show, and, you know, just very transformative in this season, especially, you're seeing this
09:06completely other side of Dustin.
09:07So, where is he at mentally going into season five?
09:12Oh, man.
09:13It's kind of a bummer.
09:14It's, it's, he's definitely, he's somebody dealing with grief.
09:17A lot of them are.
09:19Dealing with it in a, I would consider, a pretty unhealthy way.
09:23Uh, he's quite irritable, and quite, dealing with a bit of guilt himself.
09:29Uh, I think he feels that he could have done more to prevent, uh, what happened to Eddie.
09:35And he's kind of taking the brunt of that, and kind of living, trying to keep him around.
09:40Like, not live vicariously through it, but trying to, try to keep, uh, trying to keep from confronting
09:47the fact that he's not coming back by wearing the same clothes that he wears, and listening
09:51to his music, and hyper-diving into his interests, uh, for the sake of maybe feeling like he
09:57would be doing something wrong by letting it go, or letting him go.
10:00Which is, I think, what some, a lot of people who deal with grief, uh, kind of teeter in
10:04that realm.
10:04And also, a lot of times, people who are grieving act like it's only happening to them.
10:08And that's selfish, and it's understandable, and you have to approach the situations with
10:13grace, and you, you know, uh, it's, it's tough to do, and tough to emulate, but I've been
10:18there.
10:19I've been in this world where I'm like, it feels like it's only happening.
10:21Do you even know everybody around you is there to support you, and love you, and his friends
10:24are always there to support him, and love him?
10:26But he's not reciprocating that.
10:28Except for Steve.
10:28That's the thing, is that, yeah, well, that's, yeah, right, for sure, but he feels that.
10:33He feels a little bit like nobody really seems to understand the loss that he, he specifically
10:38has suffered, and I think he's failing to recognize that others have lost as well, which
10:43is a pretty, yeah, it's a bummer to see him in that, in that place, because he usually
10:48likes to have, I think he secretly loves trying to save the world all the time.
10:53It's what brings him zest and life, and it's the first time that it didn't go well, and
11:01it's the first time that maybe he feels guilty that he was having so much fun, because it
11:04led to something quite horrible.
11:06So, did you guys do the full rewatch of the series?
11:09Not quite yet.
11:09I did that last year.
11:11Did you?
11:12We were filming.
11:12Yeah, and it's awesome.
11:14It's a good time to do it.
11:14It's a great show.
11:15Yeah, no, I hear people like it.
11:18That's good.
11:18Whoa.
11:18You guys should do a season five.
11:21Yeah, I mean.
11:23Yeah, because I think when filming last year, it was our, you know, last time being around
11:28each other in these outfits, in these costumes, and I was like, you know, I want to do a rewatch
11:34so I can talk about it the next day.
11:35Yeah.
11:36Well, not the next day, because I can't do the rewatch.
11:38I think it was, I did a whole month when I wasn't filming, and then I came back, and
11:43I was just looking at Gabe like, wow.
11:47Just like that?
11:48That's perfect, because that's awesome.
11:49I was like, oh, that's awesome.
11:50You were looking at me like that.
11:51Just like, I told Gaten, in season one, he was doing some stuff that a lot of people
11:59can't do at his age.
12:00Like, in the moment, you're like, okay, we're having a good time.
12:02We're just doing, I know, but like, I have to give him his flowers.
12:05That's nice.
12:06His comedic timing and his dramatic, like, decisions at like 12 was impeccable.
12:13Well, thanks, buddy.
12:14Honestly, and I mean, everyone was amazing, but just watching it from one to four, and
12:18seeing how the story came about, like, it's, like, the Dovers are great.
12:23I mean, huh?
12:23Everybody complimented each other very well.
12:25Yeah, very well.
12:26It's hard to kind of rise to that challenge, but you wouldn't be able to do it without a
12:30group that's as solid as you guys are.
12:32Yeah.
12:33I love your stuff that season.
12:34Well, you kind of lent into my question, which was, what was your favorite moment of each
12:37other's watching back, or even in season five, that you were like, wow, they killed it.
12:42Oh, that's such a question.
12:42Trying to get spoilers.
12:44All right.
12:44No, I mean, it could be one through four.
12:46It could be one through four.
12:47I know.
12:48It's kind of, it's probably redundant.
12:50You probably hear all the time people talking about the end of your last season, the end of
12:55four for you.
12:56Oh, thank you.
12:57And the opportunity that you were given there, because to me, it was just a matter of time.
13:01I was like, there's, I just, you have those instincts, and you have the tools available
13:06at your disposal constantly.
13:08It's just a matter of being given an opportunity to use those tools, and I was so excited for
13:14people to see you do it, because the minute I saw it in the script, I'm like, well, people
13:17are going to absolutely shit themselves over this, because you're going to, you're incredible,
13:21and I always knew that that's something you excelled in, and not everybody seems to have,
13:26like, across the board, nobody seems to have an opportunity to dive into those places
13:30in this show, because it is, a lot of times, the intensity comes from the scale, and you
13:38don't have a lot of time to kind of see those individual little moments, and kind of be
13:42reminded as to why we care about these people, because they love so much, and it's so clear
13:47and honest, and it's so good.
13:48I love it so much.
13:49Thank you so much, bro.
13:51Appreciate that.
13:51Love ya.
13:52Love ya.
13:52I mean, I have a lot of favorite moments of gay, and I wish I went first, because that
14:02was really, like, nice, and, like, sentimental, and all that.
14:06I was going to say...
14:07Yeah, beat that.
14:10I mean, okay, I'm going to just say, but I mean, like, I already gave you, like, the season...
14:15From season one to, like, four, I love your character development, and who you are as,
14:19like, a person, actor, like, singer, you know, right, but my favorite moment ever is in season
14:29three with him and Joe, where they're trying to...
14:33Like, I love that scene so much.
14:34Which one?
14:35It's when you guys are following, like, the...
14:38Like, you guys think it's, like, the Russian spy, but it's, like...
14:40Yes, of course.
14:41But it ends up being the jazzercise instructor.
14:44Literally, you guys are following him, and he turns around, and you're like, hi, mom,
14:50how are you?
14:51I'm fine.
14:53The funniest...
14:54I hate that read.
14:55But it's so...
14:56I regret it so much.
14:58What?
14:58It's too much.
15:00Joe hides behind a plant, and I go, hello, how are you?
15:03I'm like, what is this show?
15:04He looks at...
15:05No, he just looks at, like, the window.
15:07Like, it's so funny, because I'm like, this is dumb.
15:10It's insane.
15:11It's so Scooby-Doo.
15:12It's so Scooby-Doo.
15:13It's very funny.
15:14Hello, how are you?
15:15I'm fine.
15:16I forgot about that scene.
15:18It's so funny.
15:20It's a standout moment.
15:21Thank you very much, buddy.
15:22There's other great moments, but...
15:23That's nice.
15:23Yeah, that scene is so funny.
15:26Thank you guys so much.
15:27Thanks, guys.
15:28That's awesome.
15:28I appreciate it.
15:29Very nice.
15:30Thank you for your questions.
15:31Yeah.
15:31Yeah.
15:31Yeah.
15:31Yeah.
15:31Yeah.
15:32Yeah.
15:32Yeah.
15:32Yeah.
15:33Yeah.
15:33Yeah.
15:34Yeah.
15:35Yeah.
15:35Yeah.
15:36Yeah.
15:37Yeah.
15:37Yeah.
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