Stranger Things’ Gaten Matarazzo recalls an 'upsetting' fan confession when he was 13

For many fans, Stranger Things didn’t just drop into their lives.They grew up with the children of Hawkins. The rest of us, met the kids of Hawkins on their bikes in 2016, watched them battle Demogorgons and growing pains, and slowly saw them turn from wide-eyed middle schoolers into young adults navigating fame, adulthood, and a very public spotlight.

That shared coming-of-age makes moments from the cast’s early years hit a little harder in hindsight.

Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo, who is now 23, once opened up about an ‘upsetting’ encounter he had with a fan when he was still around 13.

The 23-year-old American actor, best known for playing Dustin Henderson, was just 13 years old when the Netflix series first premiered in 2016.

Speaking on an episode of the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast a few years ago, Matarazzo was asked if he’d experienced any funny fan interactions over the years. Instead, he shared a moment that was anything but light-hearted — involving the mother of one of his fans.

He recalled: “I did [an event] very recently, and this is not very funny, but the reactions around it were quite funny, where this woman in her 40s said straight up, ‘I’ve had a crush on you since you were 13’.

“And I was like, ‘That’s upsetting’. I’m sure she just meant, ‘Aw, this kid’s cute’. But then she doubled down.”

The cast of Stranger Things quite literally grew up in front of the world, with the show’s final season landing on screens just last month. Once introduced to audiences as children, the former Hawkins kids are now all in their 20s — a transition that has played out almost entirely under public scrutiny.

As the years have passed, conversations around the darker realities of child stardom have followed closely behind the series’ success. Millie Bobby Brown, in particular, has often been at the centre of those discussions, having spoken openly about the challenges of navigating fame from such a young age.

In 2022, she reflected candidly on the experience of being sexualised at an early age. Around the same time, concern grew online when reports surfaced of “NSFW” countdowns appearing ahead of her 18th birthday. Even posts shared to mark the milestone were met with waves of explicit comments and inappropriate emojis.

Speaking on The Guilty Feminist podcast, Millie said: “It’s a very good representation of what’s going on in the world. I have been dealing with that, but I have also been dealing with that forever.”