Spoilery leaks from popular television shows are now easier than ever to deliver to information-hungry fans, which is why showrunners and TV crews have adopted extreme methods to protect their franchises' most coveted secrets. As one can imagine, this can make work more difficult for people like Stranger Things' casting director Carmen Cuba, who still has a job to do in spite of the secrecy. Cuba recently remarked on the difficulties of keeping secrets in regards to Season 3, as she has to put out vague casting calls that keep actors as in the dark as much as possible.
There's a certain storyline that's challenging that we have to keep going back to the well for. . . . There's a lot of secrecy, and we can't say what parts we're looking for, so it's still a weird challenge. I know that if we said, 'We're looking for this and it's for Stranger Things,' we would have tons more options, but it's still a lot of work.
Carmen Cuba's problem is one shared by many casting directors of popular TV dramas that hinge on mysteries and twists, as she has to send out obscure information to potential stars that doesn't reveal any key plot points or storylines of upcoming show seasons. Cuba hinted to attendees at the 10th Annual Australians in Film Heath Ledger Scholarship dinner (via THR) that the talent pool is rather thin in this specific case, and she feels it would open up significantly if she could just make it clear that the part is for Stranger Things, along with adding more specifics about what they're looking for.
Without that information available to share, Carmed Cuba is forced to work with all the random talent searching for a job based on her non-detailed casting calls. And that talent might be hustling a little harder if they knew the audition was for a high-profile Netflix original series like Stranger Things. Revealing the legit character details would certainly open up the number of actors interested in trying out, but this method also has its disadvantages, as many TV super-fans may already know.
New character descriptions for popular shows almost always find their way to the internet, even though they're often full of doctored information. We're guessing the Stranger Things role(s) in question would specifically reveal some things about Season 3 that the Duffer brothers would rather not be out there. It could also be something rather small that isn't really a huge deal, since the Duffer's love of absolute secrecy has been well-documented throughout the series. Unfortunately, the showrunners have already cut off the biggest source of Stranger Things leaks, David Harbour, so we're forced to wonder just how significant the casting for this secret storyline will be.
Stranger Things Season 3 is still in development, with Netflix teasing a possible release date coming in Summer 2019. There's plenty of great television popping up to watch in the meantime, so be sure to visit our 2018 Netflix schedule and our fall premiere guide and see what's on the way.
