Immediately after Stranger Things Season 5 wrapped, Ross Duffer posted an emotional statement that included a note about how the kids in the cast have grown up on this show. The idea of these actors starting their work on this Netflix hit as small children and ending it as adults is what sends me over the edge emotionally while thinking about this show coming to an end. So, you better believe that when Millie Bobby Brown, Sadie Sink, Noah Schnapp and Finn Wolfhard posted their tributes to finishing production, I was reaching for the tissues.
This is a monumental moment. While we have a wait ahead of us when it comes to seeing Eleven, Mike and co. for the final time, the actors who play them have said their last goodbyes. Now, as the anticipation really starts to build for Season 5’s premiere on the 2025 TV schedule, the young performers are getting sentimental on Instagram about their last moments on set, with Millie Bobby Brown posting:
In the final video in the carousel, Brown noted that she was “nowhere ready to leave” the cast and crew. Across Season 5’s production, the Eleven actress has said they were having a blast working and they weren’t ready to think about the end. So, when the end came, it’s not surprising that she was choked up giving this speech, and it’s obvious that this role has meant the world to her.
Meanwhile, while Sadie Sink joined the cast as Max later than the other kids, it feels like she’s one of the OGs and she grew up on the show too. In her Instagram post, she used a bunch of old photos of her and her castmates, writing the show “made me who I am” and “gave me the most amazing childhood.” She also wrote that “saying goodbye is so painful,” and I feel that!
Will actor Noah Schnapp wrote the most on Instagram out of these actors, creating a ten-point list that thanked various members of the cast and crew. Noting all his young co-stars, Winona Ryder, the crew, the Duffer Brothers and Shawn Levy, he detailed what he’d learned from them, and then ended with a note about how much the show as a whole has meant to him, writing in part:
‘Stranger Things’ was more than a job; it was a lifelong dream. A dream made reality thanks to the Duffers. Thank you for taking a chance on me when I was just a 10 year old kid and entrusting me with something so important to you both. Together, this cast + crew has built something so very special, and I couldn’t be any more excited for the world to see the final chapter. Stranger Things is a never ending story for me - it’s in my heart forever.❤️
It’s important to remember that when these performers started working on Stranger Things they were all tweens, and now they’re in their 20s. That period of life is so formative for everyone, and it’s powerful to see these stars reflect on growing up on this fantastic Netflix series.
Keeping the sentiment train rolling, Finn Wolfhard posted a throwback picture along with two BTS photos from Season 5, explaining that the older image (which you can see below) captures the energy he associates with Stranger Things:
Along with the image, the Mike actor made it clear that he’s still in “shock” that they’re done with Stranger Things after filming Season 5 for the last year, and that he’ll miss it all “terribly.” However, he also sweetly wrote about what this show means to him, explaining:
When I think of the show, I picture this first photo. A bunch of goofy young people making something they think is cool but really have no clue what’s to come. I feel like we’re still those people and I’m lucky to still stand beside them today. I hope you’ll love this season as much as I do. See you all next year. 🚲🚲🚲🚲
Seriously, I need a box of tissues now, and I’m 1,000% going to need them when Season 5 premieres on Netflix’s 2025 schedule.
Watching these incredible young performers go on one final ride as these beloved kids is hard to fathom, but these tributes hammer home the fact that the end is coming. However, while that makes me sad, these sentimental posts show how much care and love went into Season 5, and it makes me very confident that we’re in for something special.
So, before we go on our last bike ride through Hawkins with these kids, you can literally watch them grow up by streaming the first four seasons of Stranger Things with a Netflix subscription.
