Stranger Things’ Charlie Heaton surprises fans with news about 11-year-old son Archie: Here is the full story

Stranger Things might be over, but the buzz around the actors lives continue to dominate. Currently, the spotlight has shifted from the Upside Down to Charlie Heaton’s very real-life surprise: his 11-year-old son, Archie.

Fans were taken aback when Heaton revealed that Archie, born in 2014 when the actor was just 20, has largely been kept out of the public eye—even as his father became a household name on Stranger Things. In a recent chat with People at the season 4 premiere of Heaton’s new show Industry, the actor shared that Archie has only just started watching the series.

"He has just started getting into it… He got to come to set last year and that was really cool," Heaton said, giving fans a rare glimpse into his life as a young dad.

Heaton, who shares his son Archie with former Comanechi bandmate and ex-girlfriend Akiko Matsuura, told Wonderland in 2025 that fatherhood forced him to “grow up very fast.” "You have to also learn ethical priorities, too, and you've got to look after somebody. That’s a big thing. You want to give them good experiences and a lot of love," he said. Heaton and Akiko met when he was a teenager and were both members of the rock band Comanechi. They are believed to have parted ways sometime after Archie’s birth, though the exact length of their relationship is not publicly known.

Since 2016, Heaton has been in a relationship with Stranger Things co-star Natalia Dyer, whose character Nancy Wheeler falls in love with Heaton’s Jonathan Byers.

As for Heaton’s own career, Industry marks his first series since the Stranger Things finale, “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up,” aired on New Year’s Eve 2025. His role as James Dycker has already received positive reviews, adding to a career that includes films like 2020’s The New Mutants.

And fans of Hawkins don’t have to worry, Stranger Things isn’t over yet. Netflix is currently producing an animated prequel, Stranger Things: Tales from '85. The first teaser is out and we see some of our beloved characters back, as they try to find out new horrors that have overtaken Hawkins.