2016 has been a tumultuous year to say the least. With the loss of many of the entertainment industry’s legends this year, we have tearfully said goodbye to greats such as Alan Rickman and Robert Vaughn. Yet this summer, we also said hello to potentially some of the industry’s next legends, with the viral success of one of this year’s biggest ‘breakout’ shows: Stranger things.
However the worldwide success of the young cast has had the biggest impact overall, attracting fans of all ages and nationalities. For example, one fan drove 299 miles to see the cast, after “falling in love” with the ‘‘truly amazing’’ cast’s ‘’bond and friendship’’.
The Netflix-original is a science-fiction horror series set in 1983, in the small fictitious town of Hawkins, Indiana, where one night, twelve-year-old Will mysteriously goes missing. This then sparks a series of supernatural discoveries, as his loyal friends search for him, on a journey reminiscent of that seen in The Goonies.
Within a month of the show’s release, it had received over 14 million viewers and had developed a passionate cult following. One of the most-talked-about aspects of the show ever since, has been its extremely young, yet extremely talented cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin and Noah Schnapp- who are all under the age of fifteen (with the exception of fifteen-year-old McLaughlin).
So, as the filming of the second season is underway, and considering the huge impact the cast has had across the world and especially in Britain- with many British fans, for example, dedicating Twitter and Instagram accounts to their favourite cast members and flying to the USA to meet them, it seems only right to discuss just how big an impact the cast has made.
Like many other child stars before them, they became famous almost overnight, and have received heavy media attention.
Yet in a world where social media plays a key part in the entertainment industry, they represent a whole new generation of child stars. Each of the five at least has a Twitter and an Instagram account, each with massive followings of hundreds of thousands if not millions of fans.
With so many fans and a medium to connect with each of them through, the stars of Stranger Things have something child actors of the generations before them never had: a platform to speak directly to their fans, and develop connections with all of them right from the very beginning of their careers.
Unlike former child actors, they are not only admired by their fans, but also seen as friends. By welcoming their other young fans into their daily antics – such as Brown’s recent trip to Universal Studios, or McLaughlin’s Thanksgiving celebrations, their fans get to know them informally in a relaxed environment, rather than in a more impersonal, staged setting such as a promotional interview. They have been able to develop personal relationships with their many fans, which aren’t one-sided - as more likely they would have been in previous years, but rather allow the cast to share the love expressed by their fans: they are constantly in conversation with their fans on Twitter, and have been known to frequently express just how grateful they are for them.
But most importantly, they have helped to give child actors a voice. For so long, the tabloids held most of the control over not just child actors’ images, but entertainers’ images in general. Whereas now, despite the many downsides of social media, it has given back entertainers control. It has also provided a platform to advocate for causes they believe in. Brown has used social media to support girls’ rights to an education, and Matarazzo has used social media to raise awareness for veteran suicide prevention.
To put it simply, the cast of Stranger Things are proving that child actors aren’t naïve or irresponsible as old stereotypes portray them to be: they control the narrative on their lives now, not the media. Now, child actors have been given more of the power over the course of their career, and they are proving themselves to be very understanding of the responsibility that comes with it.
Molly Lambert, Langley Park School for Girls
