Netflix's 42-Episode Sci-Fi Series Deserves Credit For Turning An Unknown Cast Into Stars

Published Nov 4, 2026, 5:00 PM EST Liz Hersey is an Editor and Critic for ScreenRant's TV team, editing, reviewing, writing, and creating content about the iconic shows you love to watch. She began her editing career at ScreenRant in 2019, shortly after joining the site as a Writer that same year. With a passion for all things books, Liz frequently attends Toronto literary events and conferences, and loves interacting with her book lover community. In addition to being an avid reader of the romance and thriller genres, Liz is a writer of several short stories, and is currently at work on a young adult witch novel. When she's not working, reading, or writing, Liz can be found seeing movies at her local cinema, attending live jazz events, or curling up on the couch to binge her favorite TV shows. You can reach her at liz.h@screenrant.com. When Stranger Things premiered in 2016, nobody expected it to completely take over the pop culture landscape the way it did, or turn its cast of then-unknowns into Hollywood A-listers. Created by the Duffer Brothers, the 1980s-set series about a group of misfit kids discovering supernatural threats and government conspiracies in their small town of Hawkins, Indiana, was a smash hit for Netflix from the start. Across nearly a decade, Stranger Things ran for a total of five seasons, broke streaming records, and became one of the biggest Netflix shows of all time. Despite its enduring popularity throughout its run, Stranger Things became a victim of its own success. As viewership numbers swelled, so did the show's scope, lore, and, most detrimentally, its cast. Though some newer additions became breakout fan favorites, like the adorkable Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke) or the rebellious Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn), by the time Stranger Things ended, the cast was so bloated that several OG characters got completely sidelined in the series finale. This is a shame because these Stranger Things characters are why people fell in love with the series in the first place, whether it was the nerdy D&D group or the telekinetic Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). When it first aired, Winona Ryder was the only famous name in the cast, but thanks to these incredible performances, the Stranger Things ensemble is now a veritable who's who of celebrity talent. Stranger Things Turned Almost Every Cast Member Who Wasn't Already Famous Into A Major Star Although everyone in the Stranger Things cast was already a working actor when the show premiered, most of the young stars were just starting their careers. Nobody knew who Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, or Caleb McLaughlin were yet. Even David Harbour, who had been working steadily for over two decades before Stranger Things, was unknown to the average viewer. That all changed quickly. After the lightning-in-a-bottle magic the cast created in Stranger Things season 1, Hollywood quickly came knocking, and most cast members soon found themselves involved in major film or IP franchises during theshow's run. Brown scored the titular role in Netflix's Enola Holmes movies and appeared in the Godzilla franchise; Wolfhard had starring roles in the blockbuster franchises It and Ghostbusters; Harbour joined the MCU as the Red Guardian. Rearrange the movies into the correct US release order. Even Stranger Things stars who didn't join a franchise racked up some impressive credits as their fame rose, with Joe Keery appearing in the high-grossing action-comedy Free Guy, Matarazzo starring in Broadway musicals Dear Evan Hansen and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Sadie Sink (who joined in Stranger Things season 2 but is considered a core part of the cast) generating serious Oscar nomination buzz for her dramatic turn in the Darren Aronofsky weepie The Whale. To say Stranger Things ​​​​​​opened doors for the cast would be an understatement. What The Stranger Things Cast Have Done Since The Show Ended The Stranger Things stars haven't slowed down since the show aired its series finale on December 31, 2025. Brown and Ryder have continued to use Netflix as a home base, with the former starring in Enola Holmes 3 earlier this year and the latter set to appear in the cast of the highly anticipated Wednesday season 3. Sink made her MCU debut as Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day and is set to reprise the role in Avengers: Secret Wars (2027) and 2028's untitled X-Men film, while Harbour won an Emmy for his performance in HBO's DTF St. Louis. Stranger Things Cast & Their Notable Post-Show Work Actor Stranger Things Character Notable Post-Show Work Winona Ryder Joyce Byers Wednesday season 3 (TV show)* David Harbour Jim Hopper DTF St. Louis (TV show) Millie Bobby Brown Eleven Enola Holmes 3 (movie) Finn Wolfhard Mike Wheeler Crash Land (movie) Gaten Matarazzo Dustin Henderson Rent (stage musical, West End) Caleb McLaughlin Lucas Sinclair Goat (movie) Noah Schnapp Will Byers Stealing from Pablo (movie)* Natalia Dyer Nancy Wheeler Goodbye Girl (movie) Charlie Heaton Jonathan Byers Below (TV show) Joe Keery Steve Henderson Other Desert Cities (stage play, Broadway) Sadie Sink Max Mayfield Spider-Man: Brand New Day (movie) * not yet released Other cast members are enjoying post-Stranger Things careers onstage. Just this month, Matarazzo made his debut on London's West End playing Mark Cohen in Rent, while Keery made his Broadway debut in Other Desert Cities opposite Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Ed Harris. While not all the Stranger Things cast members got to end the show that made them famous on a high note, the Netflix series is clearly just the beginning. Release Date 2016 - 2025-00-00 Network Netflix Showrunner Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer Directors Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz Writers Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock Creator(s) Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer