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00:00Jamie, first, no spoilers, of course, about the ending of the show,
00:03but could you describe in three emojis what we should expect from it?
00:07The crying emoji, the scared emoji, and the fire emoji.
00:16In this season, we get to see more of Wagner's powers, his background stories.
00:20So for you, from where did you start to reconnect with the character after these couple years?
00:25Do you understand what else you needed to do with him this season?
00:29I never let him go. I didn't let him go between seasons four and five.
00:32It was always going on in the back of my mind.
00:35This was something that I'd spent so much time building and creating,
00:39knowing that I had to come back to it, knowing what it felt like to step into it
00:43for the first time and how much work that took.
00:45I was like, I'm not going to let this go. I'm going to hold on to this.
00:48I'm going to continue to just let this tick away in the back of the mind
00:52so that when I do get the phone call, it's like, all right, you got a month.
00:55You know, I'm not like, oh, Jesus.
00:57I'm like, I actually know what I'm doing and I know how it feels.
01:00The development of the character is something that hopefully we can come back and talk more
01:06about because yes, there were moments of development that I had both in sort of offset
01:11and on set too. And yeah, I'll leave that there.
01:15You've all done very different projects since Stranger Things and coming back to season five,
01:22what felt most different and how you guys approach your characters compared to the early seasons?
01:29Every year, you kind of got to meet the character where they're at.
01:31Things have changed. You've changed.
01:33The character is going through something different and you're always sort of at the beginning,
01:37I think a little confused and you sort of are trying to get used to it.
01:39But then as you're sinking your teeth into it, working through the season, you kind of find
01:43things that either resonate with you and your connection with the character.
01:48I think this time was, it was different for everyone, I think.
01:50You all have already played some really bad guys in big productions before,
01:54like Twilight, Harry Potter, now Stranger Things.
01:57So what do you think that makes a villain iconic as Vecna is becoming now?
02:02First and foremost, character-wise, you have to be able to understand, relate, empathize and feel
02:09for your villain. I think you have to be able to truly know where it's coming from,
02:12regardless of whether or not you agree with what's going on.
02:15But you have to understand it. I mean, even a character like Pinhead, you know,
02:18you understand that this is a manifestation of this idea of desire and hell, effectively.
02:24So, you know, I think there's that. And then I also think that, like, having the artistic
02:30people around us that we had to create this character, Matt and Ross, Barry Gower, you know,
02:34who has created the Night King and loads of other amazing creatures.
02:41You know, we are people that truly are passionate about what it is that we're doing.
02:45And hopefully when you get enough of those people who care to work on one thing,
02:50bleeds through to the final product. And so that's what I hope for.
02:53So, yeah, hopefully it's it's the fact that people can understand it and that we care.
02:58Maybe a good guy next.
02:59Maybe. Maybe. Who knows?
03:01You always started Stranger Things as kids and now you're closing the story as young adults.
03:07So was there a moment during filming when it really hits you like, oh, this is the end of
03:12our ride together? Like, and how did that feeling change the way you act or behave on set this season?
03:19You try not to let it affect the way you act or just how you are on set in general, but I think it
03:23inevitably does, right? You know, it's so hard not to have it in the back of your mind that you're
03:27wrapping something up. But I think if anything, it gave us a drive to really try to give everything
03:32we got. I was really proud of everybody and the effort that was put in. And I think for me,
03:37it hit probably the last few months as we started to count down the last few weeks. We'd have conversations
03:42like, hey, nine weeks left, six weeks left. So it started to trickle in slowly, at least for me.
03:47The kids of the show have said before how Stranger Things changed their life because they grew up in it.
03:52But I imagine that the feeling is different for you. So when you finish shooting your last scene,
03:58what this moment of closure meant to you, to your career?
04:01Somebody took a photograph of me on my final day, just after I'd shot my last scene.
04:07And I look like a man who's just sort of like dropped all of his bags that he's been carrying
04:12for three years. Like the weight has gone from my shoulders. I'm like, I can finally let this go.
04:17Now it's done. I don't know. I think I really came to this project with the words,
04:23yes, in my heart and in my head. So any references and any divine intervention that came my way,
04:30I just went, okay, cool, great. I'll take it. And that really helped me build this character.
04:36I just stayed open for as long as I needed to. And that does change you artistically.
04:43I think even musically, I think it's changed me too. Like I was so used to constructing music
04:48that had to exist in a format and in a box. And it had to be for three guitars and a bass and drums.
04:54And now I'm like, well, it's going to be whatever it wants to be. It doesn't have to be one particular
04:58thing. It can be anything like it doesn't matter. So there's that. That's I think fundamentally how it
05:04probably has changed me the most is just by remaining receptive and open. Yeah.
05:09I assume one of the hardest parts of ending a show this big is the fear of disappointing fans,
05:16like what happened with Game of Thrones, for example. And how do you all deal with that pressure
05:23and still trust the stories the Duffers are telling? It was just wanting to yes for the fans
05:29and also just to do service to the writing. You know, the brothers care so much about characters
05:35and they care so much about it being satisfying and wrapping it up. And that was on the page.
05:40You know, we read that. And I think, you know, you just want to give service to that as best you can.
05:45Yeah. I also feel like, you know, people put so much pressure on things. And I remember feeling a
05:49lot of pressure before we started. But now I really like, and maybe this sounds really selfish,
05:54but I'm just like, I really care about us and how we feel about it and how we feel about the work that
05:58we did and how the Duffers feel about it. And if like, if the Duffers feel good and we feel good,
06:04then like, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, to the rest of it. Yeah. And that's like sort of the success of
06:10season one is just making the things that you want to make. And you know, the Duffers always had
06:16a vision. So I think that that's what's worth. If you're trying to guess what an Orphans is going
06:22to like, you're probably not going to get it right. Yeah. I don't think we ever had that feeling when
06:26we were shooting. I think it was before we got the scripts and it wasn't even we, it was just,
06:31I was thinking about how notoriously like final seasons of TV are very, there is a lot of kind of
06:37controversy surrounding a lot of different final seasons or series and series finales. So you
06:42weren't alone in feeling this. Yeah. General anxiety. I think a lot of people have. Yeah. And then we got
06:46the scripts and started filming and that kind of went away. So like, I think at a certain point you
06:50have to just trust that the filmmakers know what they're doing. And, and I think very early on,
06:56it was clear that, that we had something really awesome. The season brings the story full circle now
07:01by having a new group of kids in the spotlight. So now the show feels closer to season one,
07:07again. Did that help you guys reconnect with what made Stranger Things so special at the beginning?
07:13Yeah, I think this last season definitely paid homage to the first season and the relationships.
07:19I think with the story, it kind of brings that out in a way to like where the core of how the show
07:24is and what it was. And I think there's a novelty that will be missed from the show that has made an impact
07:31on people, even myself. Young castmates around, I think does feel nostalgic and, um, you know,
07:38and it, and it brings that element of obviously the, you know, these seasons have matured over time.
07:42And I think they've gotten, you know, bigger and more serious and scarier. And I think, you know,
07:46that levity, I think it's, it's really nice to have that around when you film it. Oh man,
07:51that's hard to specify without spoiling. That's crazy. I'll say that Matt and Ross really know how to end
07:55episodes really, really well. Yeah. So anytime you get towards the last like 10,
07:5815 minutes of any episode, there's usually going to be something pretty special. They seem to make
08:03kind of mini movies and that's always something that works really well. So every one of them feels
08:08like there's something special. I wish we could give you better answers, but we got people looking
08:11over our shoulders over there. I can think of one. Yeah. Probably we're all thinking the same one.
08:16There are a lot of, I mean, it's hard to say anything, you know, all that to say lots. Yeah,
08:20I think there's a lot to look forward to. Everybody really shines in their own special way, which is
08:25always great. It's just cool to see everybody sort of really comfortable and in their own skin.
08:29Yeah. And also a new character that is particularly divine. Absolutely.
08:35That I cannot wait for them to celebrate and meet. Yeah. I don't want to call them kids anymore,
08:40but just like their, their performances, like they're so mature and you know, and I was rewatching
08:47some of it last night and there were some moments where I was like really impressed.
08:50Was it difficult to start right in the middle of chaos instead of slowly building up like in past
08:56seasons? It was cool. It was nice being able to kind of just get into the action kind of immediately.
09:03I think we were all prepared for it anyways. I think what we were told a while back before shooting
09:08season five, that it would be still contained in Hawkins, but also kind of start, like we hit the
09:13ground running. Maybe it takes a little, like a second to get used to that, but after a while,
09:18it felt normal. It's funny. Like I think that I thought was month two and I was like, man,
09:23usually this is like month six on a normal season when it comes to like energy and the scenes that
09:30we're filming and stuff. But the way that the episodes are set up, it's like the end of episode
09:34one would be like the mid series finale of season three. You know what I mean? Or the scale is different,
09:39but I feel like it feels the same when it comes down to it and you're acting together.
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