It’s been over three years since Vecna opened the gates to the Upside Down on Stranger Things, and while the long gap has caused waning interest for some, that massive Season 5 trailer has ratcheted up excitement for others. It’s going to be bittersweet either way, because as much as I need to see what’s next after that wild Season 4 ending, I don’t want to say goodbye to these characters. It turns out the actors had the same issue, and after hearing about Noah Schnapp’s last day with Winona Ryder, I’m already crying.
Stranger Things first premiered on the Netflix schedule back in 2016, when Noah Schnapp was just 11 years old. That means he (and a lot of the cast) spent the entirety of their teen years playing these characters, so it’s no surprise that he bonded with his TV mom, Winona Ryder. Schnapp recalled wrapping Season 5 and how emotional that goodbye was, telling Variety:
I was at Winona’s last day. I was like, ‘This is a work goodbye; we’ll see each other soon.’ And then I was in her trailer, and I was like, ‘No! You can’t leave!’ I was holding on to her, just sobbing. I did not expect it to hit me so hard.
I can kind of relate to this, because how am I fighting back tears over the ending of a show whose final season hasn’t even premiered yet? Noah Schnapp plays Will Byers on the binge-worthy Netflix series, who spent the majority of Season 1 in the Upside Down with his mom Joyce (Winona Ryder) trying to rescue him.
Clearly, playing mother and son for so long bonded the two actors, and I hope Noah Schnapp is right that they will stay in touch.
The Duffer brothers were apparently able to coordinate the Stranger Things Season 5 shooting schedule so that all of the leading actors’ final scene fell on the last day of filming. That led to some very real emotions on set as they were able to watch each other’s final moments.
Joe Keery, who plays Steve Harrington, described the final day of shooting as “emotional and great,” and called those actors his “family for life.” Co-creator Ross Duffer echoed that sentiment, saying both the cast and the crew have become family.
Finn Wolfhard, aka Mike Wheeler, had a really poetic way of describing it, saying that after spending his entire childhood on the Stranger Things set, closing this chapter was like a “Toy Story 3 moment of leaving your toys behind.”
I think we’re going to feel a whole spectrum of emotions when Stranger Things Season 5 hits the 2025 TV schedule. The first volume consists of four episodes and will be released on Wednesday, November 26, with Volume 2 (three episodes) coming on Thursday, December 25, and the series finale dropping on Wednesday, December 31. Be sure your Netflix subscription is up to date, because I’m betting you won’t want to miss this.