Behind The Scenes Secrets From The Set Of 'Stranger Things'

At the onset of Stranger Things, the audience meets Steve, a typical '80s assh*le, complete with Ray Bans and a popped collar. The Duffer brothers had initially planned to do away with Steve, but when they started getting to know actor Joe Keery, they rewrote the entire character. 

In an appearance on Beyond Stranger Things, Matt Duffer explained, "Once we found Joe [Keery], Steve started to evolve a bit and became more charming and likable to the point where when we were writing Season 1 we realized we wanted to give him more of an arc."

One of the most exciting moments for fans of Stranger Things was getting to see the main characters dressed in period appropriate Ghostbusters costumes. It turns out that those costumes were harder to get approved than pretty much anything on the show - specifically because they had to talk to the people who made Ghostbusters. 

The Duffer brothers revealed that they had to call the film's director, Ivan Reitman, who then had to get in contact with the film's writer, Dan Aykroyd, before they could have permission to use the suits. 

The brothers explained, "[Reitman] had seen the first season or at least had heard of it or pretended like he had. But they were really into being part of the show. Then they sent us all these Ghostbusters toys at the end of the shoot. That’s one of my Top 5 most worn-out VHS tapes."

One of the most affecting visuals of Stranger Things is Millie Bobby Brown's shaved head. And even though the look was written into the script, Brown and her family were still unsure about what the look would do for her future roles. To get Brown pumped up for her buzz cut, the Duffer brothers showed her a picture of Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa, and that swayed her.

The Duffers told EW, "Fortunately, Mad Max: Fury Road was about to come out, so we pulled out a magazine photograph of Charlize Theron as Furiosa and showed it to Millie. 'Charlize looks totally bad*ss, right?' Millie agreed; Charlize looked badass. And that was it: She agreed to buzz it all off."

Even though you might think that the kids never see each other - especially the kids who don't share any screen time - it turns out that they're together all the time, it's just that they're studying while they're doing it. Gaten Matarazzo, who plays Dustin, told CNN, "We all do school together so we all got to see [Brown] just as much." 

Brown concurred, saying that even though Eleven was locked in Hopper's shack on the show, the actress was free to roam. "We did pre-algebra all together, so I think it was fine. I love working with them."

In Season 2 of Stranger Things, Sheriff Hopper (David Harbour) is playing father figure to Eleven (Brown) and they are not getting along. She's upset about not being able to be let out of the house, and he's worried about her being caught by the scientists at the lab. They get into a lot of major fights, and it turns out that some of those emotions were real. 

Brown explained at Paleyfest in 2018 that the two actors "went through so many different emotions... we get angry at each other, we are like father and daughter." She continued, "We got angry at each other, we would express our feelings on and off the set, and... those scenes were so raw and real that the reward is the scenes."

If you weren't sure as to whether or not the Duffer brothers were totally into Stephen King, they gave the nod-of-all-nods to their favorite short story by the author in Season 5, episode 3, titled "The Body." The story they're referencing is the basis for Stand By Me, a film about four boys taking a trip to see a dead body. 

The Duffers told EW, “We love that story and that film with all of our boyish hearts, and its DNA is written all over the show.”