Joe Keery Got Real About The ‘Weird’ Thing That Happened After The Stranger Things Cast Filmed For A Decade

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With the release of the first part of Stranger Things Season 5 on Netflix in 2025, we’re nearing the end of this beloved series. This final season will wrap up the story of Dustin, Eleven, Mike, Lucas, Max, Will, and their families, and fans have eagerly tuned in to see the conclusion of the battle with Vecna. While reactions to the new season are mixed, actor Joe Keery recently shared a strange experience that occurred after ten years of filming.

What Odd Thing Did Joe Keery Say Happened After Filming Stranger Things For A Decade?

I still remember when Stranger Things first came out in the summer of 2016 – it instantly became the show to watch for anyone who loved stories about kids facing spooky, supernatural stuff. It’s been amazing – and a little surreal – watching the original cast grow up both on screen and in real life. Sadie Sink, Caleb McLaughlin, Millie Bobby Brown (who’s now married with a child!), Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, and Gaten Matarazzo are all in their early 20s now, which is wild to think about!

Recently, when the cast was speaking with Entertainment Tonight, they were asked about spending the past decade working on the popular series and whether or not the time seems to have passed quickly. As they began to reveal their ages when the show first started, however, Joe Keery (who’s portrayed stalwart hero Steve Harrington since Season 1) mentioned the…strange thing that happened for him as one of the actors who began the series in his early 20s:

It hit me as a strange feeling when the new actors began to reach the age we were when we first started out. It was like looking in a mirror, but through time, and honestly, a little unsettling.

I’d often wondered what it would be like to grow up on a TV show, something the younger cast members, like Wolfhard, were clearly feeling as the series ended. But I hadn’t really thought about how strange it would be to see the youngest actors reach the same age as the original cast, who started the show playing high schoolers.

The older cast members of the show – Keery, Natalia Dyer, and Charlie Heaton – are now in their early 30s. Maya Hawke, who joined in Season 3, is 27. It’s a strange feeling realizing someone with a fully established life – career, house, family – was born while you were finishing college. It makes you feel unexpectedly old and wonder, “How did that happen so quickly?”

It’s strange how time works. You can logically know a lot of time has passed, but sometimes it feels like yesterday. My mom always talked about this—how events can feel both recent and incredibly distant. I didn’t really understand when I was younger, but now, looking back after so many years, I totally get it. I feel that disconnect often.

It’s understandable that seeing the younger versions of the kids on Stranger Things reach the age Joe Keery was when the show began was a strange experience for him. It definitely feels like the sort of long-term, manipulative plan Vecna would devise.

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2025-12-03 22:10