One of the biggest hits in Netflix original production is about to return with the first part of its season four: the series Stranger Things, created by Matt and Ross Duffer (since 2016) will premiere five of its new nine episodes on May 27, and the rest on May 1 of July. And there will only be another occasion to meet again with the characters of Hawkins because this, as they have insisted in the promotion, constitutes the beginning of the end.
According to Natalia Dyer
, whom we have seen as Coco from Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) or Willis Howell in The Appearance of Things (2021), who has gotten into the Nancy Wheeler's skin for the Netflix series and who has answered various questions during a press conference in Madrid together with her partner Charlie Heaton, “it's about of the darkest and scariest season”, and the entire cast agreed from the first reading of the script that “it is really intense”.
“We are getting close to the end, and this season is beginning to prepare us for it”, said the English interpreter, who plays Billy in the Spanish film El secreto de Marrowbone (2017), to Sam Guthrie from The New Mutants (2020) and, in Stranger Thing yes, to Jonathan Byers. “And it also opens the curtain to give an explanation for everything that has happened throughout the other seasons in Hawkins, and it is the biggest by far ”.
The family of 'Stranger Things' helps to withstand the pressure
Netflix
“We have all grown up; the characters and the story have grown”, continues Charlie Heaton, for whom the fourth season “is, of course, a declaration of love to the indies due to its similarities with The Goonies , for example”. And, in this case, “I would say that is more like A Nightmare on Elm Street
[1984]”. On the other hand, “expectations, in general, come from the outside in, and this happens when a series has been very successful.”
“[Pero] It was different at the beginning: when it comes to a new series, you act as it arises. And I think I speak for everyone when I say that we have the feeling that we have created a great family, between the producers, the directors and the technical team, and that helps a lot to withstand so much pressure “, assures the artist, for whom “they have felt safe” in the filming of the fourth season of Stranger Things, which “has been fun and exciting”.
Because, in the words of Natalia Dyer, “it's wonderful” how the Duffer Brothers “do things”, since they are “fantastic screenwriters who always they manage to reach incredible places”; and “loves the story and the characters.” But “it is difficult to assess the filming of this season without talking about the pandemic” because “there was a time when they had to stop and then they came back, and there were many protocols for the safety of the team, and it has been noted that filming slowed down” .
A confusing shoot
Netflix
The American actress explains that The greatest ambition of this batch of episodes in the Netflix series is due to the fact that it has “many narrative lines” . And all the credit goes to the script and, although “sometimes you can make a suggestion, it's all there.” Her Nancy Wheeler has had “an important evolution, and now she has found more of her own voice and has learned to listen to her intuition”, so “she thinks the character arc has been a very pleasant journey for her”.
“I think we have a great female cast, with strong and well-defined women, and I It seems like great luck to be able to be part of it”, concluded Natalia Dyer. And, regarding Charlie Heaton's Jonathan Byers, he affirms that “he liked to interpret” the “more relaxed and pleasant” part of it” in the fourth season of Stranger Things, and that there was “a lot of improvisation” with Eduardo Franco and his new character, Argyle, to make the team laugh.
“In this season, the filming has been very messy”, he also says. “They weren't acting in sequential time, but first this part of an episode, then another… Which was a big challenge and sometimes a little confusing because I had to be thinking about where my character was at.” For her colleague, the feeling was that of “being doing a puzzle all the time ” with the different scenes, the dramatic and humorous tones and the genres . And with a very good atmosphere.
A special stage
Netflix
“The story, the characters and the legion of fans” that follows Stranger Things on Netflix has matured, considers Charlie Heaton. As in the Harry Potter saga, that “they mature as the deliveries pass” and “what continues is the essence of the characters: although they grow, it is always there.” You cannot narrate a story with different stages betraying it. “It is a journey and a growth, but always maintaining the essence” of the protagonists.
For him, likewise, the best seasons are seasons one and four . Because “the first time you shoot something is always special: you are introducing the story of the characters”. And, although “when you're doing a promotional tour you have to say that season is the best”, during the script readings, “we had the feeling that the fourth was special” and they were amazed by it. “ We are getting to the why of everything and that makes it more interesting ”.
'Nightmare on Elm Street' in the fourth season of 'Stranger Things'
Netflix
“During the first season, the Duffers had all kinds of recommendations for us, so that we could get into the characters”, explains Natalia Dyer. “And one of them was, of course, to see the Nightmare on Elm Street saga [1984-2003], and you should do it because there is a correlation between these films and the series. And tworking with Robert Englund has been amazing. He has brought a very positive energy to the set”, and “he has a very brainy monologue where he gives everything”, almost “a masterclass”.
On the other hand, if “this season pays homage to these horror classics, having one of the protagonists with us seemed wonderful, something very special.” One of the tastes that, perhaps, they will miss in the future. “We're nearing the end” of Stranger Things, and Charlie Heaton “can't even imagine how he's going to feel when shoot the next season and, then, in each scene”, think about “that this is over, that we we are nearing the end”.
