Originally appeared on E! Online
You haven’t taken a trip to the Upside Down: The “Stranger Things” kids really are all grown up.
Nine years after the sci-fi drama made its debut, the long-awaited fifth season is finally underway in what promises to be an epic — not to mention emotional — final farewell.
And while Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Sadie Sink, Caleb McLaughlin and the rest of the show’s all-star cast have spent nearly a decade telling the story of psychokinetic teen Eleven and the young friends she encounters in Hawkins, Ind., their own lives have developed significantly as well.
For starters, Brown — who was just 12 when the Netflix series premiered — has gone from being a child star to raising a child herself after adopting a baby girl with husband Jake Bongiovi over the summer. And while the couple, who wed in 2024, shared their parenthood joy in August, they’re making a point of shielding the newborn from the spotlight for the time being.
“If she chooses to share her personality one day with the world, like I did when I was young, that’s something we’d support,” Brown, 21, told British Vogue in an interview published Nov. 5. “But right now, as she’s so little—as her parents, it’s our job to protect her from that.”
READ Stranger Things’ Charlie Heaton Makes Rare Comments About Becoming a Dad at 20
While the actress has embraced starting a family, Wolfhard recently confirmed he’s still single, admitting that dating isn’t currently a high priority.
“This is the time where I have been doing the most work in my life,” he told Variety in August. “So I feel like it’s been kind of… Maybe it’s been subconsciously — what’s the word? — deliberate? — to not have a committed partner.”
Wolfhard’s focus on his career has certainly paid off — with roles in blockbuster movies like “It” and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” — and one key reason for his continued growth has been a conscious effort not to outdo his “Stranger Things” success.
“The way for me to advance in my life and my career is not to try to replace the show,” he explained to the outlet. “It’s to try to really embrace it.”
The same could be said for Sink, 23, who has amassed a body of work that includes a memorable role in Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” short film and a Tony nomination this spring for her Broadway performance in “John Proctor Is the Villain.” But as the star has continued to rise, she’s become more adamant about guarding her offscreen persona.
“I don’t want anyone to know anything about me in my personal life, or know too much about who I am just as Sadie,” she said in an interview with Teen Vogue published in April. “I think the louder that gets, the quieter the impact of your characters can be. At least that’s my theory, so I’m rolling with that.”
Volume one of “Stranger Things” season five is streaming now on Netflix, with volume two dropping Dec. 25 followed by the series finale Dec. 31.
